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It looks like a case of the right hand not knowing what the left
hand is doing. I am referring to the legislature trying to
restructure socialized and low-cost housing loans while a joint
venture involving a government housing corporation is foreclosing
52,000 housing units. While one wants to create more homeowners, the
other is creating more homeless Filipinos.
Sen. Migz Zubiri has started sponsoring Senate
Bill 1987 that seeks to restructure socialized and low-cost housing
loans to benefit homeowners who had defaulted in the payment of
their monthly amortization through no fault of their own.
The bill, with Senators Jingoy Estrada and
Rodolfo Biazon as co-authors, covers all socialized and low-cost
housing loans secured from agencies involved in the National Shelter
Program with at least six months of unpaid amortization. A similar
legislation, Republic Act 8501, was enacted in 1998 to benefit
181,349 homeowners who had failed to pay their loans because of the
Asian financial crisis in 1998. Migz noted that only 19,612 of the
181,349 had availed of the law and of those who did, about 40
percent are again in default.
The government and the private sector are
launching new socialized housing projects with low loan interest
rate of six percent for members of Pag-ibig while present
beneficiaries of the National Shelter Program are on the verge of
being thrown out of their homes.
Liberal terms
I read a copy of the bill and it has many
liberal provisions. The restructuring program covers even those who
had taken advantage of Republic Act 8501. The bill condones all
penalties and surcharges upon approval of the restructuring
application. A reasonable portion of the interest on the housing
loan shall also be condoned In addition, all accrued interests will
be treated as non-interest bearing principal to be equally repaid
during the term of the restructured loan.
The term of a housing loan account being applied
for restructuring may be extended for a period longer than its
original term to lower the amount of the monthly amortization.
However, the extension should not exceed the difference between the
borrower’s age at the time of application and age 65.
The program does not include accounts without a
single payment, an account whose housing unit has been abandoned by
the borrower-owner for more than two years from the date of
delinquency, an account whose housing unit is occupied by a third
party, and an account that has been foreclosed and its title
transferred in the name of the housing agency or government finance
insitutions.
While the legislature is all-heart for the
homeowners in dire straits, the Balikatan Housing Financial Inc. (BHFI)
is now foreclosing some 52,000 low-cost and socialized housing
units. The BHFI has entered into a joint venture with the National
Home Mortgage Finance Corporation (NHMC) to manage non-performing
residential mortgage loans. The BNFI acquired the 52,000 units from
government housing agencies at discounted prices and is reselling
them at higher prices to original beneficiaries. Those who refuse
will have their mortgage foreclosed.
An irate Speaker Prospero Nograles has
rightfully directed the House Committee on Housing and Urban
Development to investigate the BHFI.
“This is a total reverse of government housing
policy. We should instead restructure and condone penalties and
surcharges and not remove the roof above their heads and eject
them,” Nograles fumed
He found it ironic that the BHFI would be
foreclosing the socialized housing mortgages when its mandate is to
infuse much needed liquidity to the country’s low income housing
sector.
House approves PERA
An e-mail from the House said the chamber had
approved on third and final reading House Bill No. 3754, the
Personal Equity and Retirement Account (PERA) Act of 2008. The
e-mail described it as a “provident personal savings plan for the
country’s retirees.” The authors included Reps. Ramon “Red”
Durano (NPC, 5th District, Cebu) and Marcelino Teodoro (Lakas-CMD,
1st District, Marikina).
If the House bill is really meant for the
country’s retirees, then it radically deviates from the Senate’s
PERA version that was transmitted to the House on December 10, 2007.
The Senate bill, principally authored by Sen. Edgardo Angara, is a
provident savings plan not for retirees but for workers, especially
those overseas who are not members of the Government Service
Insurance System or the Social Security System—and there are
hundreds of thousands of them. However, existing GSIS and SSS
members may voluntarily contribute to the PERA.
Angara, one of my favorite senators, has filed a
bill creating the Child Health Insurance Program, which provides
children aged six and below a full range of health services like
regular checkups, immunizations, prescription drugs, dental and eye
care, among others. Children of indigent parents will receive free
health insurance coverage.
efrendanao2003@yahoo.com
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