Overseas Filipino workers are securing housing units under the government’s Expanded Pambansang Pabahay para sa Pilipino (4PH) Program, with the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) confirming that OFWs are among the initiative’s priority beneficiaries.
The program, implemented through the Pag-IBIG Fund, waives the monthly salary ceiling for OFW applicants and offers a subsidized interest rate of three percent — terms that have made formal homeownership attainable for workers whose earnings come from abroad.
Among those who have benefited is Rosemarie Libanan, who spent 18 years working in Saudi Arabia without her family owning a home. Her unit at Crystal Peak Estates in Pampanga — one of the Expanded 4PH developments — marks the family’s first owned property. A sibling has been helping monitor the unit while she remains overseas.
“Wala pa kaming sariling bahay dati… ito ang pinakaunang-una… matagal na kaming naghahanap kaso parang di ko pa kaya noon kasi ang bigat sa buwanan,” she said in a DHSUD online interview.
She is looking forward to visiting upon her return. “Sana pag-uwi namin this year, mapuntahan na namin siya. Maganda raw yung puwesto, malapit sa lahat. Excited ako kasi kahit wala ako dun lagi, yung pamilya ko… pwede silang mamasyal dun,” Libanan added.
In Nueva Ecija, Sharon Joy Capyo, whose husband works in Japan, said her family previously lived with relatives before qualifying for a unit at the Palayan City Township Project, as reported by the Daily Tribune.
“Masaya po kami na nagkaroon na kami ng sariling bahay… nakikitira lang po kami dati sa pamilya namin,” Capyo said. “Kay President BBM, maraming maraming salamat po… nabigyan po kami ng pagkakataon na magkaroon ng sariling bahay na kayang-kaya namin bayaran.”
Jeremy Leyno, a painter in Japan, and Madelaine Ann Mallare, a nurse in Saudi Arabia, are also among those who have accessed the program.
DHSUD Secretary Jose Ramon Aliling said the initiative reflects a direct directive from President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to expand housing access for all Filipinos, including OFWs.
“Malinaw ang direktiba ni Pangulong Marcos Jr.—gawing mas abot-kaya, mas mabilis, at mas accessible ang pabahay para sa bawat Pilipino, kabilang dito ang ating mga bagong bayani na OFWs,” Aliling said.
“Sa pamamagitan ng Expanded 4PH, binibigyan natin sila ng pagkakataon na maranasan ang bunga ng kanilang sakripisyo—isang sariling tahanan na maaari nilang uwian,” he added.
Libanan captured what the program means to many workers in her situation. “Maraming salamat sa programang ito ng gobyerno… dahil ang daming OFW kahit matagal na nagtatrabaho ay wala pang nabibilhan na property… pangarap nila para sa pamilya nila na habang nag-aabroad sila, pag-uwi nila, meron silang bahay na masasabing sa kanila.”
