THE Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) said it suspended housing loan amortizations in areas stricken by recent typhoons and the earthquake that hit northern Cebu.
In a statement on Thursday, the DHSUD said it “ordered its key shelter agencies (KSAs) to implement a moratorium on housing amortization to their members in areas affected by [the] typhoons and earthquake.”
The order forms part of its efforts “to provide much-needed assistance to victims of typhoons Nando and Opong in Bicol and the destructive earthquake in Cebu province.”
Opong did much of its damage in Masbate, an island province administratively belonging to the Bicol region.
The order applies to the Home Development Mutual Fund (known as the Pag-IBIG Fund), the National Home Mortgage Finance Corp., the National Housing Authority, and the Social Housing Finance Corp.
The DHSUD did not say when the moratorium will be lifted.
Human Settlements Secretary Jose Ramon P. Aliling also asked the department’s regional offices in Bicol and the Central Visayas to provide damage assessments in the wake of the calamities.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) estimated that over 3.5 million individuals were affected by typhoons Opong, Nando, and Mirasol.
The NDRRMC also reported that the 6.9-magnitude quake in northern Cebu killed 72 people. — Beatriz Marie D. Cruz