(UPDATE) THE Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) expressed support to the plan of Pag-IBIG Fund to increase the monthly contribution of members.
“For three consecutive years, Pag-IBIG Fund heeded our request to postpone the implementation of their new monthly savings rates in view of the difficulties brought by the pandemic,” ECOP Honorary Chairman and President Sergio Ortiz-Luiz Jr. said.
“This time around, after having discussed the need for its implementation, we pose no further objection to their plan to push through with it this year,” he added.
Ortiz-Luiz said that ECOP’s support was also a reflection of how it saw Pag-IBIG Fund properly manage the funds that their members entrust to them.
“We also understand that the increase in Pag-IBIG’s savings rates means added benefit for their members, as this equates to an increase in their forced savings,” he added.
“Over the years, Pag-IBIG Fund and ECOP have engaged in productive discourse to help shape responsive policies for the benefit of our stakeholders,” Acosta said.
“We appreciate their recognition of the need for us to finally implement our new rates, after having deferred its implementation since 2021, so that we can increase our members’ benefits, address the growing loan demand of our members, maintain the affordability of our home loans, and ensure the sustainability and growth of Pag-IBIG Fund,” she added.
Under Pag-IBIG Fund’s new savings rates, the maximum monthly compensation to be used in computing the required 2 percent employee savings and 2 percent employer share of Pag-IBIG Fund members shall be increased to P10,000 from the current P5,000.
The Pag-IBIG Fund approved in 2019 the increase of its members’ monthly savings rates after obtaining the concurrence of stakeholders to implement a planned increase in 2021.
Acosta said they deferred the implementation of the new rates in 2021, 2022 and 2023 because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We also heeded the requests made by the business community led by ECOP and the directive of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. early last year to provide workers and employers with relief from the continuing effects of the pandemic,” she said.
