Vice President goes high tech to advocate financial literacy

MANILA, Philippines - Vice President Noli De Castro has urged OFWs in China to “set aside money for the rainy days and for the future” in an event that also gave a glimpse of how government can reach more Filipinos abroad through technology.

Speaking before a gathering of OFWs at the Philippine Consulate General in Shanghai last Sunday, which was streamed via the Internet using Skype and Yahoo Messenger (YM) to reach other Filipinos throughout China, the Vice President underscored the importance of putting some of their hard-earned income in the Pag-IBIG Fund savings program as well as other investment instruments in their home country.

The event, called the financial lLiteracy briefing and orientation on the Pag-IBIG Fund programs, comes on the heels of the Vice President’s speech in the ICT and Urban Development Forum in Ningbo, China Saturday, in which he cited the Philippines’ recent automated elections as an example of how information and communications technology contributed to strengthening democratic institutions.

Addressing both the live and virtual audiences, De Castro said they should consider not just earnings in choosing where to place their money, but also how safe the investment is, and where the money is being used.

De Castro touted the Pag-IBIG Fund’s savings scheme, which is now mandatory for OFWs, as a form of high-yield, low-risk investment that benefits its members through multi-purpose and housing loans.

According to De Castro, the Fund declared a dividend rate of five percent for 2009, “the highest dividend rate given by Pag-IBIG and better that what you can get from other deposit instruments.”

He also revealed that a new scheme called Pag-IBIG II, a voluntary contribution program that offers even higher dividends, is now open to Pag-IBIG members.

Pag-IBIG Fund chief executive officer Jaime Fabiaña gave the orientation on the institution’s financial condition and the performance of its provident savings and housing programs.

Fabiaña disclosed that there are currently 459,180 OFW members of the Pag-IBIG Fund, and that overseas members availed themselves a total of P9.6 billion worth of housing loans in 2009, 21 percent of the record P45.7 billion home loans released during the year.

De Castro was also joined by Deputy National Treasurer Eduardo S. Mendiola and Jose Eduardo Quimpo II of BPI Capital, who talked about savings and investment Instruments for OFWs.

The financial literacy seminar in Shanghai is the third in a series, following similar events for Filipinos in Hong Kong and Singapore.

The event was streamed via the internet to reach more OFWs, and also to underscore the potential of e-government in delivering services to all Filipinos.