The Pag-IBIG Fund Puerto Princesa branch is aiming to hit if not surpass its target number of borrowers this year under its short term multi-purpose loans (MPL) and calamity loan facilities.
Branch officer-in-charge Emely Platero said they managed only a 94 percent target accomplishment in 2020 due to the pandemic lockdowns, after exceeding their target the previous year.
This year, she said they are looking at having a total of 9,760 loan borrowers with P203.910 million loan available for its short-term loans.
“This 2020 ay bumaba ang aming availment,sa loan borrower noong 2019 ay nasa 124 percent ang accomplishment namin pero this 2020 ay 94 percent lang out of target namin na 7,737, ang nag-avail lang ay 7,307. Ang isang factor na nakikita namin diyan is ‘yong travel ban, the fact na ‘yong ibang members natin ay from island municipalities so hindi makakabiyahe to file,” she said.
Even after Pag-IBIG Fund opened its online application, some members were still not able to borrow due to issues of poor signal and absence of signatories from their companies.
“Naglabas nga kami ng online application, ang iba naman na reason ng members natin ay walang internet connection plus ‘yong signatories nila sa application ay naka-work from home o wala sa kanilang lugar kaya hindi makapagpapirma. Isang factor din ‘yon kaya hindi nakaka-avail ng loan. Hindi na sila employed o na-retrench na sila, hindi na updated ‘yong kanilang contributions so hindi talaga makaka-avail ng loan,” she said.
As the year started, Pag-IBIG Fund had 192 borrowers for calamity loan and 406 for MPL in month of January.
Platero stressed that loan availment is advantageous as it could help the members especially at time of pandemic.
“Unang-una, sa Pag-IBIG fund kung meron silang membership, active members sila, makaka-avail sila ng multi-purpose loan o calamity loan kung may calamity sa area. Unang-una, mabilis ang processing natin sa Pag-IBIG fund pagdating sa short-term loans. Ang target namin is two or three days processing time and at the same time, ‘yong ma-a-avail nila na loan ay pwede nila pasimulan para sa kanilang negosyo,” she said.
“The fact na ang ating interest rate ay mababa lang, sa multi-purpose loan is 10.5 percent per annum, two years to pay so lumalabas lang na 21. 5% for two years and diminishing balance pa ito. Sa calamity is 5.95 percent lang ang interest per annum, two years to pay din,” she added.
She stressed that the amount of loan that can be availed by a member will depend on the 80 percent of the total contribution.
“Ang computation ng loanable amount natin is based on your total contribution wherein 80 percent ng total savings mo sa Pag-IBIG, iyon ang ma-a-avail nila na loan,” she said.
