MANILA - The Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG Fund) last year financed PHP100.8 billion worth of housing loans, the highest ever released by the agency in a year despite the continuing Covid-19 pandemic. Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) Secretary Eduardo del Rosario, who also heads the 10-member Pag-IBIG Fund Board of Trustees, said the in-home loan disbursements contributed to the economic recovery efforts of the government. "While the country is still facing challenges caused by the pandemic, I am happy to report that Pag-IBIG released more than PHP100 billion in home loans in 2021, surpassing its best-ever figure which it achieved in 2019, before the health crisis started," del Rosario said in a statement on Friday. Data released by Pag-IBIG Fund showed it released PHP97.28 billion worth of home loans, with interim releases for loans for house construction and renovation amounting to PHP3.5 billion. The amount disbursed in 2021 significantly grew to 58 percent compared to PHP63.75 billion in 2020. The agency's previous record-high of PHP86.74 billion released in 2019 was also surpassed by 16 percent the following year. "This is very good news for our members because bigger releases mean that more Filipino workers have become homeowners even during the pandemic," del Rosario said. Pag-IBIG Fund Chief Executive Officer, Acmad Rizaldy Moti, also noted that the amount released last year financed the acquisition of a record-high 94,533 housing units for its members, an increase of 48 percent compared to the 63,750 housing units financed in 2020. "We previously thought that releasing PHP100 billion in home loans in one year was impossible. Yet, even when our home loan releases were at PHP57 billion in 2016, we still targeted the release of PHP100 billion by 2022. And, thanks to the commitment of your Lingkod Pag-IBIG and the support of our stakeholders, we have already surpassed PHP100 billion in home loan releases in 2021, a year earlier than our target date and even during a pandemic," he said in another statement. There were also PHP9.71 billion released in 2021 for the acquisition of 22,028 socialized housing units for members belonging to the minimum wage and low-income sectors. "What truly is significant behind this number is that we were able to serve more Filipino workers during the most difficult times and we remain a catalyst for the Philippine housing industry to thrive even amid the pandemic," Moti said. (PNA) }