Business groups are seeking condonation from the Home Development Mutual (Pag-IBIG) Fund on the payment of penalties by companies which have failed to remit their employees’ savings the past two years.
The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Employers Confederation of the Philippines and the Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. cited the pandemic in making the request to Acmad Rizaldy Moti, chief executive officer of the Pag-IBIG Fund, in a letter dated Sept. 9, 2021.
The business groups also requested Pag-IBIG to give business owners applying for penalty condonation longer time to settle their obligations.
The groups asked the Fund to consider applying the same to employers which have outstanding penalties on their Pag-IBIG contributions prior to 2020.
The business groups said due to the health crisis, 35,049 establishments nationwide have filed for permanent closure since 2020 resulting in the displacement of 710,417 workers.
They said Pag-IBIG’s assistance will help keep businesses afloat.
The Fund in a circular issued in July, issued the guidelines on the penalty condonation program on the mandatory monthly savings remittances for financially distressed employers operational from March 17, 2020 to Dec. 31, 2020.
Failure to remit incurs a penalty of 1/10 of 1 percent per day of delay. – Irma Isip