Vice President Jejomar C. Binay announced that the National Home Mortgage Finance Corporation (NHMFC) will implement a 6-month moratorium on the amortization of payments for borrowers affected by the recent conflict in Zamboanga City.

            Binay, who also heads the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) and the NHMFC Board of Directors, said the moratorium shall be effective starting November 1, 2013 until April 30, 2014. He added that the borrowers should file their application for moratorium not later that October 31, 2013.

            “This is our way of providing assistance to the people of Zamboanga whose properties were damaged by the recent siege, as they go through rough times,” Binay said.

            According to the Vice President, the borrowers account should be in current status or 0-3 months in arrears in order to qualify for the program. Binay said qualified housing loan borrowers shall not be charged with interest and penalty within the 6-month period of implementation.

            “The moratorium shall take effect starting from the approval date of the application. As a result of the moratorium, the loan term shall be automatically extended equivalent to the same number of months that the account is under moratorium,” he said.

            Binay said that NHMFC borrowers/buyers who are no longer interested to return to their respective homes/units may opt to voluntarily surrender their properties through dacion en pago , subject to the terms and conditions under the law governing the same.

            Dacion en pago is a special mode of payment wherein the debtor offers another thing to the creditor who accepts it as equivalent of payment of an outstanding obligation.

            Earlier, the housing czar ordered other key shelter agencies to prepare assistance packages for Zamboanga residents displaced by the armed conflict.

            The Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-ibig) has released P19 million in calamity loans for families whose homes were destroyed in the conflict.

            Binay said that Pag-ibig-Zamboanga has processed 933 loan applications amounting to P19,030,577 as of September 25. Around 2,500 more are still being processed for approval.

            The National Housing Authority, meanwhile, will provide resettlement for those whose homes were totally damaged in the crisis, and P5,000 worth of building materials for those whose houses were partially damaged.