Pag-IBIG to auction off 67 housing units in Cebu

CEBU CITY – The Pag-IBIG Fund’s Acquired Assets Division (AAD) is set to hold a public auction for foreclosed properties in Cebu on April 23 at the Pag-IBIG Fund–WT Corporate Tower at the Cebu Business Park here.

Wilmer Lirazan, Loans Management and Recovery Department manager of Pag-IBIG Fund’s Cebu Housing Business Center, said in a press conference Monday that a total of 67 housing units will be auctioned off in a “sealed public bidding” next week.

“We are actually conducting public biddings for acquired properties at least once a month,” Lirazan said. “Last month, we sold 22 of 30 units we auctioned off in Tacloban City (Leyte).”

He said Pag-IBIG will also hold sealed public auctions in Tagbilaran City in Bohol and in Dumaguete City in Negros Oriental.

At least 3,000 foreclosed housing units in the Visayas are slated for disposal this year – 2,000 in Central Visayas and 1,000 in Eastern Visayas.

Of the 3,000, Pag-IBIG Fund-Visayas is targeting to dispose 1,800 units in Regions 7 and 8 this year, said AAD officer-in-charge Angelo Hermosisima.

“Pag-IBIG is not in the business of foreclosing. We provide housing through our housing loan program. But there are irresponsible clients who do not care to save their houses, forcing us to foreclose their properties,” Lirazan said.

He said there are 17,000 housing loan borrowers in the Visayas and nine percent of them are highly-delinquent.

Some of these borrowers, he said, drive away Pag-IBIG personnel during their visit by reportedly releasing their dogs, and even threaten them with bolos or guns.

“The problem with these borrowers is they do not know that we have programs that provide solutions to their problems, like loan restructuring, for example. Instead of listening to what we’re offering, they drive us away,” said Lirazan.

The properties to be auctioned off next week are located in the cities of Cebu, Lapu-Lapu, Danao, Bogo, Talisay, and Carcar, as well as in the towns of Liloan, Compostela, and Minglanilla.

Pag-IBIG VisMin Group Member Services Operations vice president Rio Teves urged interested buyers to check the properties first before tendering their offers.

He said the list of properties and guidelines for public auction may be viewed at https://www.pagibigfund.gov.ph/AA/ or at tarpaulin notices posted in the different local government offices in Cebu.

“Interested Pag-IBIG members may also avail of our housing loan program to purchase these properties. We have more than enough funds for housing,” said Teves.

Engr. Paulino Talacay, Business Development Department manager, said Pag-IBIG Fund has allocated PHP90 billion for housing loans this year, PHP10.9 billion of which is for the Visayas alone.

As of March, Pag-IBIG Fund-Visayas has already released PHP1.829 billion in housing loans for 1,093 units, Talacay said. (PNA)