The Social Housing Finance Corporation (SHFC) is relaunching its Community Mortgage Program (CMP) with significant enhancements to better serve low-income families and informal settler communities.

In a Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon interview on Monday, SHFC President and Chief Executive Officer Federico Laxa said the enhanced CMP will not only finance land acquisition for organized communities but will now also provide additional loans for community development and site upgrading.

“Magiging transformative tayo, hindi tayo titigil doon sa acquisition lang ng lupa; kung hindi puwede tayong magbigay ng additional loan dito sa ating mga kababayan para mapaayos nila iyong kanilang lupa at saka iyong komunidad nila (This time, we are making the program transformative; we’re going beyond just acquisition of land, we can provide additional loans to our fellowmen to develop their land and improve their community),” he said.

CMP is a key component of the expanded Pambansang Pabahay para sa Pilipino Program (4PH).

It is designed to assist organized homeowners’ associations or cooperatives whose members live on land they do not own.

Through SHFC financing, these communities can purchase the land and gradually pay affordable amortizations of just PHP500 to PHP600 monthly —amounts considered accessible even to families earning as little as PHP3,000 per month.

“This makes housing truly affordable for our poorest families,” Laxa said.

He also clarified that CMP is not for individuals but for communities that organized themselves into homeowners’ associations, as the program offers loans to the community.

These groups must register with the appropriate agency, like the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) or the Cooperative Development Authority if they are a cooperative.

To date, the DHSUD has approved 34 onsite CMP projects, which are expected to benefit more than 5,000 families. SHFC targets to start awarding these projects by October 2025.

In addition to CMP, SHFC is also implementing vertical housing developments in various areas, including San Fernando, Tagoloan in Misamis Oriental, Davao City, and Palawan. Some beneficiaries have already occupied their units, while others are awaiting formal awarding.

Laxa also underscored SHFC’s involvement in resettlement projects in partnership with the Department of Transportation, specifically for families displaced by the South Railway Project.

According to SHFC, more than 10,000 families have already been housed under their programs, and the number is expected to increase rapidly with the rollout of the enhanced CMP and expanded 4PH initiatives. (PNA)