THE Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG) said that they were able to get the support of the labor organization Federation of Free Workers (FFW) over moves to increase the mandatory monthly savings for both members and employees.

In a statement, Pag-IBIG said that they got a letter from the FFW where they cited PAGIBIG’s management program, which is initiated in order to create more savings for Filipino workers and provide accessible funds for housing of every member.

“With this increase, we recognize that our fellow workers will be entitled to greater savings when their memberships (with Pag-IBIG Fund) mature or upon retirement,” FFW National President Sonny Matula said.

“We particularly note the equal increase in employers’ counterpart contributions, which will result in more substantial savings for our fellow workers,” he added.

It is recalled that Pag-IBIG said that they will implement the deferred increase in the contribution of their members starting this month, so as to increase the the maximum monthly compensation to be used in computing the required 2% employee savings and 2% employee share to P10,000 from P5,000 previously.

This would now mean that there will be a monthly cap of P200 for the average premium of members, with the employer also paying P200 for the member savings fund.

“The increase in our monthly savings rates mean that our members shall have higher Pag-IBIG Savings that earn annual dividends, which they shall receive upon membership maturity or retirement,” Pag-IBIG Fund Chief Executive Officer Marilene Acosta said.

“And, because of their higher savings, they shall also be entitled to higher multi-purpose and calamity loan amounts to help them with their financial needs. On an equally important note, our new rates shall allow us to continue providing affordable home loans to our members in the coming years,” she added.