MP2 savings: what it is and how it works for OFWs

MP2, short for Modified Pag-IBIG 2, is a voluntary savings scheme run by Pag-IBIG Fund. You put money in for five years, in one go or a little at a time, from PHP 500 per remittance. Each year the Fund shares out part of its earnings as a dividend, and MP2 dividends are tax-free under Sec. 19 of Republic Act No. 9679. It sits beside your regular Pag-IBIG savings and does not replace them.

Who can open an MP2 account

Section C of Circular No. 487 opens MP2 to:

• All Pag-IBIG members, “regardless of monthly income level”. This includes OFWs who pay as overseas members.
• Former members with a source of income, of any age, who paid at least 24 monthly savings while they were members.
• Pensioners, of any age, who paid at least 24 monthly savings before they retired.

The MP2 page FAQ still words this more narrowly. It asks for “active” members, meaning at least one monthly contribution in the last six months. It also names natural-born Filipinos who reacquired citizenship under Republic Act No. 9225 and paid at least 24 monthly savings before migrating. The circular does not name that group separately, so if this is you, ask Pag-IBIG how the rules apply to you. Our guide to dual citizenship explains RA 9225 itself.

How much you can put in

• At least PHP 500 per remittance. There is no set schedule, so you can pay monthly, now and then, or once.
• Your MP2 savings can’t go above PHP 20,000,000 at any time, counting all your MP2 accounts together. Pag-IBIG refunds anything over that.
• More than PHP 500,000 paid on the same day has to be by personal or manager’s check. Under Pag-IBIG’s Circular No. 500, cash and check payments at branches end after a six-month transition, about 21 February 2027. Pag-IBIG has not said how this large-payment rule works after that, so confirm with Pag-IBIG.
• You can have more than one MP2 account. Each has its own five-year term, which starts with its first remittance.

The MP2 page FAQ also asks for proof of income or source of funds above PHP 100,000. Its two answers on this differ: one counts your MP2 savings, the other a single remittance. The rule is not in Circular No. 487, so check with Pag-IBIG before a large payment.

Dividends and the two payout options

Pag-IBIG declares one MP2 rate for each year, around February of the following year. Circular No. 487 calls it a “flexible return rate”, higher than the rate on regular Pag-IBIG savings. The MP2 page says at least 70% of the Fund’s net income goes to dividends, so the rate goes up or down with how the Fund did. These are the rates on Pag-IBIG’s MP2 page:

Scroll the table sideways for more

These are past results. They do not promise or predict the next rate. The full history and how the rate is set are on our page on MP2 dividend rates.

When you open the account you choose how dividends are paid. The choice is final for that account:

• Compounded: the dividend is added to your savings each year, so the next year’s dividend is worked out on a bigger amount. Everything is paid at the end of the term. This is the idea behind compound interest, though MP2 pays dividends.
• Paid out every year: the dividend is paid to you each year, and your savings stay the same size. At the end you get your savings back with the last year’s dividend.

Who stands behind MP2: what Circular 487 says

Section E.3 of Circular No. 487 says: “The MP2 Savings and its returns are government-guaranteed.” Those are Pag-IBIG’s words. The law behind them is Sec. 20 of Republic Act No. 9679, where “the government of the Republic of the Philippines accepts general responsibility for the solvency of the Fund”. That is about the Fund being able to pay. It does not set the rate: the return is declared each year from the Fund’s results, so nobody can tell you in advance what it will be.

Work out your own figure

The rate for a year is only known after it ends, so the example here is history. At the rate Pag-IBIG declared for 2025, 7.12% (Pag-IBIG MP2 page), PHP 1,000 a month paid in from January to December 2025 would have earned:

Total put in that year

PHP 12,000.00

Dividend for the year

PHP 462.80

That is our calculation with an average-balance method: the year’s dividend is the rate times the average of the 12 month-end balances. Pag-IBIG has not published its exact method, so its figure may differ a little. Past rates do not predict future ones. To try other figures, use our MP2 calculator.

Opening, paying and withdrawing

1. Open the account. Enrol online through Virtual Pag-IBIG or at a branch, then note your MP2 account number. Step by step: how to open an MP2 account.
2. Pay in. Use the channels Pag-IBIG lists, including online. See how to pay Pag-IBIG online.
3. Take it out. After five years, claim it. You can roll it over once, for one more five-year cycle, only if you opted in at enrolment or within six months before it matures. See how to withdraw MP2 savings.

You can check your MP2 balance in your Virtual Pag-IBIG account.

MP2 for OFWs in particular

• Paying from abroad. You need to be a Pag-IBIG member, so keep your regular savings going as well. Both can be paid through the channels Pag-IBIG lists, including online.
• No Philippine bank account. Circular No. 487 says that for members without one, “particularly overseas members”, the money is held as Accounts Payable, which you can withdraw at any time under Pag-IBIG’s rules. Until 30 November 2026, payouts may still be by check. From 1 December 2026 Pag-IBIG pays electronically, under its Circular No. 503: to a disbursement card or your Pag-IBIG Loyalty Card Plus, a LANDBANK account, or your nominated bank or non-bank account or an accredited cash payout outlet. Ask Pag-IBIG which of these you can use from abroad.
• Coming home early. OFW repatriation (because the job ended, unrest, a calamity or other reasons beyond your control) and permanent departure from the country are among the grounds for withdrawing before the five years are up. What you get back is set out, with both of Pag-IBIG’s texts, in our guide to withdrawing MP2 savings.

For the rest of what changes when you work overseas, see our working abroad guides.

MP2 next to other government options

Other government-run ways to save, listed in no order and with no ranking:

• Retail Treasury Bonds: bonds sold by the Bureau of the Treasury from PHP 5,000, with the rate and term set for each issue.
• PERA: a personal retirement account. Contributions earn a 5% tax credit on up to PHP 400,000 a year for overseas Filipinos, or PHP 200,000 for people working in the Philippines (BSP FAQ); anything above that earns no credit.
• SSS Pension Booster: voluntary savings on top of your SSS contributions, from PHP 500 per payment.

Each works differently on terms, tax and withdrawal. Our saving and investing guides explain them one at a time.