Foreign, local groups to put up bank for workers in RP

Foreign investors signed last week an agreement with local partners for the establishment of the country’s first and only bank to be owned and to benefit the Filipino workers.

The two groups of foreign investors are US-based Worldlink Technologies Holdings Inc. and the Marathon Holding Corp. while their local partners are the Labor Alliance for Business and Organized Resource (LABOR) Inc., the Oriental Port and Allied Services Corp. (OPASCOR) and the Precision Movers and Allied Services Inc. (PREMASI).

Signing for Worldlink Technologies Holdings were Nabil Bader, president and CEO, Vincent Fan, executive vice president, and David Hold, chief finance officer; while those from Marathon Holding were Ronald Brooks, president and CEO, John Probandt, investment consultant, and Robert Ferrante and Emilio Francisco, legal consultants.

Labor organization leaders have long been planning to put up a bank for the benefit of workers for the past 30 years but have been unsuccessful due to many different obstacles and hindrances. With the entry of foreign investors and with the cooperation of the country’s biggest federation of workers, the dream is finally on its way to being realized.

The Worker’s Bank is envisioned to be the first bank to be owned by workers, to serve workers, and to benefit the workers. It aims to give the millions of workers in the country more benefits and opportunities to improve their standard of living and realize their dreams and aspirations easier, better and faster.

The foreign investors arrived in the country last week at the same time that the political upheaval took place in Metro Manila. Though anxious to see an immediate end to the political crisis in the land, the group expressed their faith in the Arroyo government and remained optimistic about the economic climate in the Philippines.

"We admire your President your president and the way she expertly handled the crisis. With her strong leadership and economic mastery, we are confident that this country will overcome its many problems and come out tops in Asia, in a very short time," said David Hold, the group’s chief finance officer. The foreign investors will be leaving in a few days with plans to return in a few weeks for the bank’s formal launching.