Home Development Mutual Fund/Pag-IBIG Fund(HDMF)

05 June 2020 Dear MS. TRICIA MAE P. BALDORADO, Greetings! May we respectfully inform you that pursuant to the declaration of the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) as a measure against the threat of Covid-19, the Freedom of Information-Project Management Office (FOI-PMO) has ordered the suspension of the period to resolve FOI requests until such time that the ECQ is lifted or the agency has sufficient capacity to process and resolve requests. With the lifting of the ECQ, it is only at this time that the Fund was able to process your request. Thus, we would like to offer our apologies for the delay in our reply. In your eFOI request, you asked for clarification if an upgraded contribution and approved by your company, is compulsory or voluntary contribution? Assuming that by “upgraded” contribution, you mean the contribution beyond or in excess of what is mandated by law, then this “upgraded” is considered voluntary contribution. Under Section 1 Rule VI of Implementing Rules and Regulations of Republic Act No. 9679 or the Home Development Mutual Fund of 2009, “[A] member may, however, be allowed to contribute more than what is required herein should he or she so desires. The employer, however, shall only be mandated to contribute what is required under these Rules unless the employer agrees to match the member’s increased contribution.” To illustrate: The compulsory contribution of an employee as mandated by law is P100. If Employee A wants to “upgrade” his/her contribution by adding P200 more to the P100 mandatory or compulsory contribution, then the P200 is the voluntary contribution. For more information on your membership contribution, may we refer you to the HDMF Fund Circular No. 274 (Revised Guidelines on Pag-IBIG Fund Membership), which can be found in our website: https://www.pagibigfund.gov.ph/document/pdf/circulars/provident/HDMF%20Circular%20No.%20274%20-%20Revised%20Guidelines%20on%20Pag-IBIG%20Fund%20Membership.pdf Thank you. ATTY. MARCIAL C. PIMENTEL, JR. Head, Compliance Office and Vice President, Legal and General Counsel Group