THE Pag-Ibig Fund will increase its members’ monthly savings rate from P100 to P200 each starting February 2024.
Secretary Jose Rizalino Acuzar, who heads the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) and the 11-member Pag-Ibig Fund Board of Trustees, said in a statement Wednesday, January 17, 2024, that the increase in the monthly premiums came following the adjustment in the maximum monthly compensation to be used in computing the required two percent both for employee savings and employer share, which will now increase to P10,000 from the current P5,000.
He said this means that members will enjoy doubled savings and higher cash loan entitlements.
“We at Pag-Ibig Fund have long recognized the need of our members to have higher savings that shall provide them with decent and fair returns upon their retirement, as well as higher cash loans to help them during times of need,” said Acuzar.
“By implementing the new Pag-Ibig Monthly Savings Rates of both members and employers originally scheduled in 2021, not only would we be able to improve the benefits of our members, we would also be better equipped to finance the growing demand for home loans of our members while maintaining our affordable rates. All these are in line with the call of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to provide Filipino workers with opportunities to gain comfortable and productive lives,” he added.
The Pag-Ibig Board of Trustees approved in 2019 the increase in the monthly savings rate but its implementation was delayed in consideration of the challenges faced by the public due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
In 2023, the Employers’ Confederation of the Philippines (Ecop) requested for the agency to provide the business community with time to further recover from the continuing financial challenges due to the health crisis.
Earlier, the Federation of Free Workers, one of the country’s top labor organizations expressed support to Pag-Ibig’s plan to increase the nearly four-decade old mandatory monthly savings rate for both members and their employers, noting the agency’s responsible management of the funds entrusted by Filipino workers and its efforts to provide social protection for its members in accordance with its charter.
“We wish to express our support and raise no objections to your plan to increase Pag-Ibig Monthly Contributions by January 2024. With this increase, we recognize that our fellow workers will be entitled to greater savings when their memberships (with Pag-Ibig Fund) mature or upon retirement. We particularly note the equal increase in employers' counterpart contributions, which will result in more substantial savings for our fellow workers,” said lawyer Sonny Matula, FFW national president.
The Ecop also backed the increase of Pag-Ibig monthly contribution.
Pag-Ibig Fund Chief Executive Officer Marilene Acosta expressed her appreciation for the support of stakeholders, and assured members of better benefits under the agency’s new rates.
“We thank the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), the Federation of Free Workers (FFW), the Philippine Government Employees’ Association (PGEA), Overseas Filipino Workers’ (OFW) Organizations, and the Employers’ Confederation of the Philippines (Ecop) for supporting our plans and for recognizing that raising our monthly savings rates will allow Pag-Ibig Fund to continue to provide affordable home loans to its members in the coming years,” Acosta said.
“It is also important to note that the increase in our monthly savings rates shall benefit our members the most because every peso they save will go to their Pag-Ibig Savings. Under our new rates, they will have higher Pag-Ibig Savings that earn annual dividends, which they shall receive upon membership maturity or retirement,” she added.
Acosta said based on the agency’s old rates, a member would receive around P87,000 upon reaching membership maturity, while under new rates, a member over a period of 20 years would receive P174,000. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)