DHSUD pauses housing amortizations for Kristine victims

The Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) has directed its key shelter agencies (KSAs) to implement a moratorium on housing amortizations to ease the financial burden of their members affected by Severe Tropical Storm Kristine.

In a news release, Housing Secretary Jose Rizalino Acuzar said the directive was in compliance with President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.'s mandate to government agencies to extend all available assistance to victims of Kristine.

With this, Acuzar directed the Home Development Mutual Fund or Pag-IBIG Fund, the National Housing Authority (NHA), Social Housing Finance Corporation (SHFC), and the National Home Mortgage Finance Corporation (NHMFC) to impose the moratorium "that could provide relief to typhoon victims who have outstanding amortization with the KSAs."

"Ito po ay maliit na bagay kumpara sa sakripisyo at kawalan ng ating mga kababayang naging biktima ng bagyo. Sa pamamagitan nito, kahit papaano ay maiibsan ang kanilang mga pangamba," the Housing chief said.

(This is a pittance compared to the sacrifice and loss that our countrymen are experiencing in the wake of the storm. Through this move, we hope that this would somehow ease their apprehensions and fears about their situation.)

SHFC said it would implement a one-month moratorium on payments.

“We are monitoring the situation closely and are committed to extending the necessary support to help our beneficiaries recover from this calamity,” said SHFC president and CEO Federico Laxa in a separate statement. “We are hoping that this deferment of housing payments will alleviate the financial burden on affected communities.”

SHFC said beneficiaries who wish to continue paying their monthly amortization can still do so through various online payment channels.

The DHSUD is also working closely with typhoon-affected local government units (LGUs) for the speedy processing of families who may qualify to the Department's Integrated Disaster Shelter Assistance Program (IDSAP).

Acuzar has also ordered the activation of all the shelter clusters in the affected areas to ensure smooth validation of the IDSAP list from LGUs.

Under IDSAP, the DHSUD is providing P30,000 unconditional cash assistance to those whose houses were totally damaged while P10,000 for those with partially damaged. — VDV/VBL, GMA Integrated News