22 September 2014 - Fitness-focused Filipino community group, Legstrong Bikers Club, collaborated with the Philippine Embassy in Seoul to hold a Financial Literacy and Investment Opportunity Seminar focusing on national reintegration for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and agribusiness at the Embassy Chancery on September 14.
In his opening remarks, Philippine Ambassador to South Korea Raul S. Hernandez called on the 18 seminar participants to fulfill their high earning potential by citing a study by Prof. Joeffrey Calimag of Hanyang University entitled “Exploring the Consumption and Saving Propensities of Filipino Migrant Workers in South Korea: A Life Cycle Model Analysis”.
The study concluded that Filipino migrant workers’ actual savings were consistently very low compared to their potential savings. The culture of consumerism was cited as one of the contributing factors behind the low rate of savings among many OFWs in Korea.
“Given this situation, the convening of this seminar is timely as this private initiative dovetails with the Philippine government’s ongoing advocacy to promote financial literacy to our OFWs and their families,” Ambassador Hernandez said, citing the ₱2-billion National Reintegration Program Fundfor Filipinos (NRPFF) launched by President Benigno S. Aquino in 2011.
“Agribusiness is also one of the priority areas” under the fund, he said. “OFWs interested to engage in agribusiness can apply for entrepreneurial assistance.” He added that the Department of Agriculture has partnered with DOLE and OWWA to develop 37 agribusiness modules detailingtechnical knowhow and practical ways to start and grow the business.
Mr. Crisanto Paguiringan, principal organizer and President of the Legstrong Bikers Club, called the seminar, which was held as its third anniversary event, “an effective way to convince our members to give some thought on how to plan our finances as a way of shortening their stay here in order to return home and help our families and contribute to national development.”
The Philippine Embassy’s Welfare Officer Virsie B. Tamayo provided an overview about the NRPFF, which the Philippine Overseas Labor Office under Labor Attaché Felicitas Q. Bay has been promoting through courses on financial literacy and livelihood opportunities for OFWs in partnership with various Filipino community organizations.
These projects include the Reintegration and Preparedness Program Orientation, Courses on Baking, Cake Decorating and Basic Sewing and Financial Literacy and Business Investment Opportunity Seminars.
Welfare Officer Tamayo underscored the government’s current focus on OFW reintegration as a way not only to secure financial independence but also to address the social problems accompanying the overseas migration of almost a tenth of all Filipinos, including absence of parental guidance, separation of families, and marital infidelity.
Seminar resources speakers Mr. Leover Loyola, Korea representative of the Landbank of the Philippines, spoke on the topics of agri-business investment opportunities and bank investment products such as bonds, deposits and equities while Engineer Michelle Landicho shared her knowledge of the stock market and financial management.
Since its inception on September 10, 2011, the Legstrong Bikers Club, a Filipino cyclist organization, has been active in promoting physical fitness. This seminar is the first activity organized by the Legstrong Bikers Club to promote financial literacy to its members. END