A Visit to PAG-IBIG. A Visit of Love (for Foreclosed Properties).

By Shandy M. Hubilla

I’ve been wanting to visit a PAG-IBIG office otherwise known as Home Mutual

Development Fund (HMDF) for the longest time. Though officially known as HMDF

for some reason the old name stuck. But why PAG-IBIG among the many

government agencies? The first reason is because I’ve been putting off for the past

several months the opportunity to inquire on the process of foreclosed property

acquisition; partly because of schedule, partly because this would go contrary to my

mom’s advice. “Why buy another property when we have quite a number already?”

That’s what she said when I told her about interest to loan a property thru PAG-

IBIG. She was of course referring to family owned real properties in Camarines Sur.

But now I no longer have an excuse not to pay PAG-IBIG a visit because of our PA

208 assignment. I was encouraged even emboldened by it. The second and perhaps

quite flimsy reason why I chose PAG-IBIG is because I just learned just recently

when I was on self-review last May for the Environmental Planning Board Exam that

PAG-IBIG is actually an acronym for Pagtutulungan sa Kinabukasan: Ikaw, Bangko,

Industria, at Gobyerno. That’s quite unique for a government agency. Besides, it

speaks of love, the greatest reason for being in my opinion. It’s something that will

outlive us all.

No Pictures Allowed

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So I eventually made the visit on August 29, 2018, a Thursday at the PAG-IBIG office

along Shaw Boulevard.

The Shaw office is quite large with about 60 plus counters to cater to its clients’

various needs. The first impression is that it is very much state of the art and

modern accentuated by a lot of screens that calls the next client and the next. It

reminds me of the GSIS office at Pasay City.

The excited PA 208 student in me started take picture after I scouted the area for a

bit upon my arrival. Much to my surprise, I was reprimanded by one of the security

guards who scolded me, “Bawal magpicture” to my surprise. Feeling a bit offended

as a first-time visitor I told him, “Why? I am a client”. The security guard did not

bother answering my question and instead gave me the look. I thought it was just

the guard having a bad day. Turns out it’s a policy because the person at the

information desk- my first stop- also prohibited me from taking pictures when I

started clicking my mobile phone again. She didn’t bother explaining why it’s not

allowed. Is it because they do cash collections? I am not sure.

Counter 36

Notwithstanding the prohibition, I surreptitiously took pictures of the electronic

dashboard which provides a menu of quite a number of possible transactions that

include Accounts Management, Cash Collection, Servicing, Check Releasing,

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Acquired Asset Management, Digital Records, Foreclosure, Member Relations Desk,

and more. I ended up getting a number for Acquired Asset Management counter.

Specifically Counter 36.

The whole process of inquiry took less than 15 minutes. And I waited for only about

8 minutes. I had one purpose and one purpose only: To inquire about the acquisition

of foreclosed properties. When I was called, Sally entertained my questions and

answered each answer politely and knowledgeably.

First, she introduced me to the PAG-IBIG website via a process flow charted

attached on her desk. I learned that there are two modes of foreclosed property

acquisition, auction and negotiated sale. She also gave me a one-page list of the

requirements painstakingly going through them and inquiring from to time if I have

any additional questions or concerns. My monthly salary allows me to loan a

maximum of around PhP 6 Million worth of property. One important advice from

her: Visit the properties you’re interested in before going to the auction or deciding

to do negotiated sale. That’s definitely a takeaway.

First Impressions Only

Generally, the PAG-IBIG office I visited is tops in terms of service-orientation and

efficiency. The visit was such a breeze and I had all the information I need in less

than 30 minutes.

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And because of Sally, the nice lady at the counter, I got excited to visit the PAG-IBIG

website specifically the

The short visit gave me a first hand impression of PAG-IBIG, which hopefully is

represented in the same way by all its other branches, as far as clientele

responsiveness accessibility, and accountability to some extent. It falls a bit short

on the last category because of the lack of explanation on why picture taking is not

allowed.

The other aspects of Dr. Alfiler’s Framework like PAG-IBIG being Pro-Equity,

Decentralized, and Fair could easily be gleaned from its mandate as explained in

Republic Act 9679 or the Home Mutual Fund Law of 2009 and its corresponding

IRR. Besides, different clienteles are being catered to by other housing development

agencies such as the Social Housing Financing Corporation (SHFC), the National

Housing Authority (NHA), and others.

First impression lasts. This one gave me a good impression over all and I will

definitely come back for more, hopefully when I do get a nice foreclosed property

that I could invest in and develop.

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