DBP SIGNS FINANCING PACT WITH KEY SHELTER AGENCY

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 SHFCaccredited 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 lowincome 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 subcomponent 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)