RIYADH, 5 August 2005 — Save the way ants do and buy your own house and lot in the Philippines while you are still working abroad.

Vice President Noli de Castro gave this reminder to Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) during a forum at the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh on Wednesday night as he noted that millions of Filipinos still do not have a decent home to speak of.

“Housing is the main thrust of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) and being its chairman I am encouraging you to set aside money for your own house and lot,” he told the forum attended mostly by representatives of community organizations.

The HUDCC is the Philippines’ highest policy making and coordinating office on shelter.

One OFW complained of the difficulty in getting a housing loan, claiming that the “padrino system”(patronage system) still prevails.

De Castro promised that as long as he is the chairman of the HUDCC, he will see to it that much-detested practice would not be allowed.

Last June, de Castro was reported to have caught red-handed a suspected extortionist during an entrapment at the office of the National Home Mortgage Finance Corporation (NHMFC), an agency under the HUDCC.

According to the Philippine News Agency, Nestor Favila of NHMFC was arrested by agents of the National Bureau of Investigation during an entrapment operation ordered by de Castro, acting on the complaint from a member of a homeowners’ association.

De Castro was quoted as saying various complaints have reached his office pointing to certain people in NHMFC who are allegedly demanding money from land owners and homeowners associations.

De Castro on Wednesday also urged OFWs who have complaints to come out in the open and execute an affidavit so that the guilty would be punished.

Pag-IBIG Fund

De Castro said the government can help OFWs through the Home Development Mutual Fund (HDMF), under which members can apply for a housing loan after paying two years of the monthly contributions.

Better known as the Pag-IBIG Fund, the HDMF has actually eased up on this requirement so that even those who have contributed for only six months are allowed to apply for a housing loan.

An OFW who wants to be a Pag-IBIG member can pay a minimum of $5 monthly contribution and apply for a housing loan amounting to 250,000 pesos or pay a monthly contribution of $30 and apply for P2 million loan.

Member who want to apply for a bigger amount have to increase their monthly contributions.

In addition to the Pag-IBIG Fund, which is active in the Kingdom, the Social Security System also provides housing loans to its members, which include hundreds of thousands of OFWs.

Other Complaints

Among the complaints raised during the forum were the persistent cases of contract substitution, in which OFWs are forced by their employers to sign a contract other than what they have signed as verified by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA).

“While still a broadcast journalist, we entertained OFWs’ complaints against contract substitution. But once we have pursued the case and the complainant gets paid, they drop the case. So nothing happens. Once OFWs file a complaint, they should help us pursue it to give a lesson to agencies engaged in contract substitution,” he said.

On the practice of blacklisted placement agencies to use those in good standing to send workers abroad, de Castro said that those agencies who allow themselves to be used could also be blacklisted if connivance is proven. Some OFWs asked the vice president to relay to proper government agencies the need to subsidize the plane tickets of OFWs due for repatriation.

They said that while the Philippine Overseas Labor Office helps by requesting tickets from Manila, there are instances when OFWs being repatriated have to provide for their own plane tickets.

Ambassador Bahnarim A. Guinomla hosted the dialogue. De Castro, who flew back to the Philippines last night, was in the Kingdom to extend condolences to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah from President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on the passing away of King Fahd.