Geline Salac

New home for Taal Volcano Island residents

Workers prepare the facilities in a government housing project in Ibaan, Batangas that will house Taal Volcano Island residents, mostly from Barangay Pulang Bato and Alas-as, San Nicolas, Batangas,  on January 31, 2020. The government of Batangas continues to identify more relocation sites, especially for more than 10000 residents displaced from the volcano. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News

Article (news)

Raine Musñgi

MANILA — Pag-IBIG Fund is challenging the country&#x27;s biggest property developers to lower the prices of homes and condominium units, saying the government has already done its part by offering cheaper financing and expanding access to housing loans.Speaking on ANC&#x27;s Business Outlook, Pag-IBIG Deputy Chief Executive Officer Alex Aguilar said affordable financing alone will not solve the country&#x27;s housing problem if developers do not also reduce selling prices.&quot;This is my challenge to our big developers. Try to bring down your costs,&quot; Aguilar said. &quot;Pag-IBIG now is in a position to provide funding for the middle segments, and we expect that the big developers just bring down their costs, their selling prices, so that we can address the seeming gap in the market.&quot; He reiterated the challenge later in the interview.&quot;This will hopefully solve it in the long run. I will not tire of repeating our challenge to the big developers. Try to lower the prices. We&#x27;ll meet halfway.&quot; The call comes just days after Pag-IBIG rolled out promotional housing loan rates as low as 4.5 percent and raised its maximum loan ceiling to P10 million, moves aimed at making home ownership more attainable even as borrowing costs remain elevated.<div><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0TqLDiok9vg?&amp;list=PLm34qRgqWBU6TBYVPvgHTQWI2lYLCwbTM&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe> </div><div>Pag-IBIG takes a bigger role by investing directly in housing projects</div>Beyond providing housing loans, Pag-IBIG is now investing directly in residential developments to help increase the supply of affordable homes.Aguilar revealed that the agency invested P10 billion in Megawide Construction Corporation through preferred shares, its biggest investment of this kind so far.The project is expected to deliver around 7,000 housing units over the next two years.&quot;We invested in Megawide via preferred shares. I can say it&#x27;s P10 billion, and they will produce 7,000 units,&quot; Aguilar said. He added that the project will build 27-square-meter housing units priced at around P1.8 million, significantly below prevailing market prices for similar developments.&quot;If you compare that to the market, that&#x27;s very cheap,&quot; he said, noting that comparable units today can sell for around P3.5 million to P4 million. The strategy marks a shift from Pag-IBIG&#x27;s traditional role as a housing lender to becoming an investment partner that can help developers build more affordable projects.<div>Ten more housing partnerships under negotiation</div>The Megawide investment may only be the beginning.Aguilar disclosed that Pag-IBIG is currently in talks with around 10 developers for similar housing projects covering both horizontal subdivisions and vertical residential developments.&quot;I have received a lot of proposals,&quot; he said. Asked how many partnerships are in the pipeline, Aguilar replied, &quot;Ten probably.&quot; He said closer collaboration between government and private developers will be necessary to address housing affordability, particularly in Metro Manila and other major urban centers where unsold residential inventory remains available but prices remain beyond the reach of many middle-income families.<div>Housing backlog may be smaller than widely believed</div>Aguilar also challenged one of the most frequently cited figures in the Philippine housing sector.While the country&#x27;s housing backlog is often reported at around 6 million units, he said the actual shortage of homes is closer to 3 million to 3.5 million units.&quot;The 6 million includes those who just need improvements in their housing conditions,&quot; Aguilar explained. The Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) has previously explained that broader housing need estimates include both families without homes and households living in dwellings that require major upgrading, a distinction that affects how the country&#x27;s housing deficit is measured.<div>Three borrowers can now combine incomes to buy one home</div>Pag-IBIG is also easing loan qualification rules by allowing up to three borrowers to combine their incomes under a single housing loan, even if they are not members of the same household.&quot;We now allow people to tack loans, meaning up to a maximum of three people,&quot; Aguilar said.&quot;You can actually combine three people, unrelated, not necessarily in the same household. Especially here in NCR where it&#x27;s quite expensive, that would allow people to purchase a unit.&quot; The policy could benefit siblings, relatives, friends, unmarried couples and young professionals who may not yet qualify individually for a housing loan but can now pool their incomes to purchase a home.Pag-IBIG currently has around 17 million members and manages approximately P1.3 trillion in assets, making it one of the country&#x27;s largest government financial institutions. Aguilar said the agency collected more than P160 billion in membership contributions last year, with roughly 55 percent coming from voluntary savings such as the popular MP2 Savings Program.

Pag-IBIG said affordable financing alone will not solve the country's housing problem if developers do not also reduce selling prices.

Pag-IBIG said affordable financing alone will not solve the country's housing problem if developers do not also reduce selling prices.

Pag-IBIG to developers: Cut home prices, we'll finance the buyers

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Pag-IBIG to developers: Cut home prices, we'll finance the buyers

Raine Musñgi

Published July 14, 2026 08:56 AM PHT

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Pag-IBIG fund

housing loan

home mortage

housing developers

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