DBP signs financing pact with key shelter agency
BUTUAN
CITY -- State-owned Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) has signed a
memorandum of agreement with the Social Housing Finance Corporation (SHFC) – a
key shelter agency, to provide financing to qualified housing contractors and
developers in order to expedite completion of socialized housing projects, a
top official said.
DBP
president and chief executive officer Emmanuel G. Herbosa said the DBP Credit
Facility for SHFC Contractors and Developers will provide short-term loans to
SHFC-accredited contractors and developers and advance payment for housing
projects approved by SHFC for community associations participating under its
Community Mortgage Program (CMP).
“DBP
sees this partnership with SHFC as a good opportunity to better carry-out our shared
goal of increasing the country’s shelter production, especially for those who
belong in the low-income bracket,” Herbosa said.
DBP is
the fifth largest bank in the country in terms of assets and provides credit
support to four strategic sectors of the economy – infrastructure and
logistics; micro, small and medium enterprises; environment; social services
and community development. The bank’s support to the country’s housing agenda
is an integral part of the DBP’s inclusive growth priorities and business
thrusts.
SHFC is
an attached agency of the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development
that takes the lead in the government’s social housing programs. It
administers the CMP and the Abot Kaya Pabahay Fund Program which cater mainly
to the formal and informal sectors in the low-income bracket.
Herbosa
said that DBP has an existing P115-million loan accommodation to an SHFC
contractor for the construction of 223 houses for members of the
Muslim-Christian Women Homeowners Association in Cagayan de Oro City who have
been rendered homeless by typhoon Sendong, displaced during the Marawi siege,
and are residing along riverbanks and danger zones in the city.
He said
that the Credit Facility for SHFC Contractors and Developers is a sub-component
of the DBP flagship program on the housing sector, the Building Affordable
Homes Accessible to Every Filipino (BAHAY) program, which covers the end-to-end
process of housing development from land acquisition to site development and
shelter construction.
“DBP
will continue to align its programs for the upliftment of the living conditions
of underprivileged communities by providing viable financing to key players in
the shelter sector to help address the country’s housing backlog,” Herbosa
said.
Interested
borrowers who wish to avail of the DBP Credit Facility for SHFC Contractors and
Developers should be duly-licensed by the PCAB or the Philippine Contractors
Accreditation Board and should secure endorsement from the SHFC, which shall
conduct both project accreditation and technical
evaluation. (DBP/PIA-Caraga)
