11 April 2016 – Philippine Consul General to Vancouver Neil Frank R. Ferrer received today Atty. Darlene Marie B. Berberabe, President and CEO of the Pag-IBIG or Home Development Mutual Fund. Atty. Berberabe was joined by other officials of Pag-IBIG, namely, Mr. Amado Isabelo I. Dizon, Vice President for International Operations Group, and Ms. Nanette Gerarda T. Abilay, Manager for Institutional Housing.
During the call, Atty. Berberabe informed Consul General Ferrer of Pag-IBIG’s ongoing thrust to advance its products and services for existing members as well as potential clients, hinging on its mission to provide an affordable shelter financing and a national savings program for the earning Filipino and the general Filipino public, based in the Philippines and abroad.
Atty. Berberabe noted that Pag-IBIG celebrated its 35th year recently, with the last five years serving as an outstanding period for the government-owned and controlled corporation (GOCC). In the past half-decade, Pag-IBIG was able to offer the lowest housing loan interest rate in the market and lowest calamity loan interest rate. The maximum loanable amount that a member can borrow was also doubled. Pag-IBIG membership almost doubled from the existing level in 2010, enabling the organization to triple its branches to serve an increasing number of members. Together with an improvement on service delivery and efficient collection, these achievements resulted in Pag-IBIG’s significant fiscal turnaround.
Atty. Berberabe also shared that the Filipino-Canadian market ranked sixth out of 22 Posts, in terms of housing loan availment. According to Pag-IBIG data, there are about 10,000 registered Pag-IBIG members across Canada. She highlighted that the purpose of the delegation’s current visit is to revitalize the presence of Pag-IBIG in the Canadian market.
Consul General Ferrer welcomed Pag-IBIG’s initiative to serve its members in B.C. and the whole of Canada. He also thanked Atty. Berberabe for the opportunity to present the agency’s offerings to Filcom. Pag-IBIG held a community forum on 9 April 2016 in Vancouver, where Atty. Berberabe and other Pag-IBIG officials presented the various products and services offered by the agency, as well as addressed queries and concerns of existing members now based in B.C. END