2008 Housing Fair
idle assets for a long time due to
opens today
A
150-square meter lot in
General Santos City for
PhP334,000. A PhP710,000-
duplex in Mandaue City. A house
and lot in BF Homes, Las Piñas for
PhP1.7 million. A lot in San Fernando,
Pampanga for only PhP84,000.
These are just a few of the
properties up for sale at the three-
day 2008 Housing Fair, which
opens today, October 29, at the SM
Megamall Megatrade Hall 1 and 2 in
Mandaluyong City.
Organized by the Housing and
Urban Development Coordinating
Council (HUDCC), this year’s housing
fair will offer over 10,000 properties
nationwide—residential lots, house-
and-lot packages or condominium
units—at discounted prices, and
which may be purchased through low
interest loans.
To be sold on an “as is, where is”
Housing Fairs generate P4.7B revenue
S
helter agencies and government
financing institutions
increased their sales of
acquired properties through the
Housing Fairs conducted since 2006,
with combined revenues reaching
PhP4.7 billion to date.
The Pag-IBIG Fund, the biggest
home financing institution in the
country, made up the bulk with
14,830 units sold worth around PhP4
billion.
The first Housing Fair was held
in October 2006 at the Glorietta
Activity Center in Makati City. It
was organized by the Housing and
Urban Development Coordinating
Council (HUDCC) as directed by its
Chairman, Vice President Noli De
Castro, with government employees as
the primary target market.
The unique program provides
a one-stop marketplace where
homebuyers can choose from the
acquired properties of participating
institutions, which were available for
sale at discounted prices and through
SPECIAL SUPPLE MENT O C TOBER 29, 20 0 8
This Special Supplement is produced by Media Central, Inc. for the 2008 Housing Fair, October 29-31, 2008, SM Megamall Megatrade Hall 1 and 2, Mandaluyong City. Copyright © 2008 Media Central, Inc. and Pag-IBIG Fund.
basis are the foreclosed properties
of participating government
financing institutions (GFIs) and
shelter agencies, Home Guaranty
Corporation (HGC), Pag-IBIG
Fund, National Home Mortgage
Finance Corporation (NHMFC),
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP),
Social Security System (SSS) and
Government Service Insurance
System (GSIS).
The event is open to government
workers, private sector employees and
overseas Filipino workers.
This is the third year that the
government is holding a Housing
Fair, first held in October 2006 at
the Glorietta Activity Center in
Makati City upon the direction of
HUDCC Chairman Vice President
Noli “Kabayan” De Castro, with
government employees as the primary
target market.
loans with liberal terms.
Vice President Noli De Castro said
that both buyers and participating
finance agencies benefit from the
Housing Fairs.
“Through this, financing agencies
could dispose of their acquired
properties. Homebuyers, on the other
hand, get to enjoy the low-interest
housing loans with longer payment
Danilo R. dela Cruz, Jr. Arnold A. Altamira
Publisher E d i to r - i n - C h i e f
This year, President Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo signed
Memorandum Circular 160 directing
the conduct of yearly Housing Fairs,
as part of the National Shelter Months
celebrated on October.
According to Vice President De
Castro, the Housing Fair aims to aid—
as a form of non-wage benefit—all
Filipino workers to acquire affordable
housing units.
It also aims to fast-track the
disposition of properties acquired by
the key shelter agencies and GFIs.
“We know that many Filipinos are
looking for affordable homes they
can buy, while our shelter agencies
and GFIs have a large inventory of
acquired properties. The Housing
Fair brings the sellers and interested
buyers together in one place,” he said.
Before Housing Fairs were held,
acquired properties usually remained
periods,” he said.
Foreclosed properties usually
remain as idle assets for long periods
due to limited avenues for disposition
and lack of awareness on the part of
buyers.
Since 2006, five other Housing Fairs
have been held, some of which were
organized for specific sectors.
Last year, sector-specific Housing
Danilova R. Molintas Chrysler de Guzman
M a n ag i n g E d i to r C r e at i v e D i r e c to r
limited opportunities for disposition
and lack of awareness on the part of
buyers.
This year, the HUDCC reported
that participating agencies and GFIs
have earned combined revenues of
PhP4.7 billion through the Housing
Fairs since 2006. The Pag-IBIG Fund
is the biggest seller with 14,830 units
sold worth around PhP4 billion.
“This is good for the financial
condition of both the sellers and
buyers. The sellers get more liquidity
from disposing their idle assets. The
buyers get great savings through
housing loans with amortizations that
could be lower than monthly house
rentals,” the Vice President added.
For buyers interested in brand new
homes, the Housing Fair also have
exhibits featuring the housing projects
of private developers. Suppliers of
home furnishings and interiors will
also showcase their products and
services.
Interested parties may contact the
HUDCC hotline at 0917 815.5369, call
(+632) 812-6495 or visit www.hudcc.
gov.ph for more information.
Fairs were held for personnel of
the Philippine National Police/
Department of Interior and Local
Government and the Armed Forces of
the Philippines.
A bigger event was held in October
for government workers, private sector
employees and OFWs.
Two Housing Fairs have been
organized earlier this year, one
for the Department of Education
personnel and the other as part of the
Independence Day celebration.
On August 4, 2008 President
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed
Memorandum Circular 160 directing
the conduct of yearly Housing Fairs
as part of the National Shelter Month
celebrated every October.
This year’s Housing Fair is scheduled
on October 29 to 31 at the Megatrade
Halls 1 and 2 of SM Megamall.
Participating agencies and GFIs include
Pag-IBIG Fund, Home Guaranty
Corporation, National Home Mortgage
Finance Corporation, Bangko Sentral
ng Pilipinas, GSIS and SSS.
Godwin S. Nerona Shaira Luna
S r . L ay- o u t A r t i s t P h oto g r a p h e r
 2008
Housing Fair
Opens Today
Housing
Fairs
generate
P4.7B
Revenue

Man of the
Masses
Vice President & HUDCC Chair Noli De Castro FREE
SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT OCTOBER 29, 2008

Published by

CondoCentral | 41
Masses
Man of the
The job of the vice president, as the banter goes, is to wait for the presidency
to be vacated. Condo Central discovers that behind the merry mien,
Kabayan is in no joking mood

E
litists and academics alike are finance after my first year, because vet med
loathe to admit it, but Vice was expensive and there were four of us in
President Noli de Castro is a true college then.”
man of the masses. In truth he After graduating in 1971, he began his
is, of our current crop of leaders, the man career as a broadcaster. Working as a field
most in touch with the pulso ng masa. reporter for Johnny de Leon, a popular radio
Twenty years as the news anchor of announcer at that time, Noli went on to
Magandang Gabi, Bayan have made him became a radio announcer in RPN’s DWWW
an icon in the eyes of the Filipino masses. station from 1982 to 1986.
He is their Kabayan who might as well After the ouster of Ferdinand Marcos, de
hold the patent to the phrase “Magandang Castro joined ABS-CBN. He got his break
Gabi, Bayan.” For him they feel both an in television as the segment host of Good
admiration, and an honest rapport. Morning, Philippines’ “At Your Service”.
Such unsolicited publicity (the young In a move that his supporters say was
Noli had simple dreams, wanting only to providential, Noli soon joined dzMM, the
be a teacher or an animal doctor) has led radio station of ABS-CBN, as the anchorman
OCCUPIED, and seemingly
him to top the 2001 senatorial race. In satisfied. The Vice President is of Kabayan. It was in this popular show where
2004, he also won a stunning 15 million concurrently Housing and Urban he gained the nickname “Kabayan Noli”.
votes in the vice-presidential contest. Development Coordinating Council In 1987, Noli became host of Magandang
(HUDCC) chair and Presidential
More, close to three decades as a Adviser on OFWs. Gabi, Bayan and anchorman of the news and
broadcast journalist have kept him in public affairs hit, TV Patrol. Twelve years after,
touch with the secret aspirations of the he rose to become overall head of production
ordinary Juan and Juana de la Cruz. of TV Patrol and vice president of dzMM. The rest is history.
This shouldn’t come as any surprise. After all, Noli is a man Were these simple twists of fate, or acts of God? Was
who is of the masses—in a very real sense, compared to even destiny calling?
Joseph Estrada or Fernando Poe Jr., whose “masa” images For such experiences have molded a man who is, despite
were in reality just that: illusions created by the characters fame, wealth and power, no snob.
they played on the big screen. Today just a breath away from being the President, Noli
As for Noli, he graduated with a distinctly unsnobbish has a folksy humor. He speaks like the man-on-the-street, is
degree—Bachelor of Commerce, majoring in Banking and accessible to them, and exemplifies in more ways than one,
Finance—from the down-to-earth University of the East. the traits of the common Pinoy: Along with the multitudes,
This was even his second choice. His first was to be an animal he joins the Black Nazarene procession every year. His
doctor, prodded by a common man’s desire to help his hog- favorite food is the simple pinasingawang gulay, and while
raising mom. his seatmates in government are partial to designer barongs,
And, like most ordinary Filipinos, Noli was forced to tailor Noli is often in a simple plaid shirt and jeans on any work
his simple dreams to whatever was more affordable. day.
Orphaned at 11, the young Noli had to help his mother, a Who can better represent the ordinary folk in the lofty
simple farm woman in Pola, Oriental Mindoro. corridors of power?
“As a boy, I saw my mother’s frustration every time diseases In this country where the elite have ruled with impunity
attacked her hogs. It meant loss of income. So I told myself for decades, all the while plundering the nation’s coffers and
I would like to be an animal doctor. I wanted to take up keeping the poor in a rut, that fact alone—that Noli is of the
veterinary medicine. masses—may tip the balance.
“But as fate would have it, I had to shift to banking and
 Whatever happens in 2010,
I intend to continue serving
our people — as a public
servant and as a good
citizen of our republic.

CondoCentral | 43