The Philippine Mission to ASEAN held a financial literacy seminar for Jakarta-based Filipinos on 19 October 2015 at the chancery of the Permanent Mission of the Philippines to ASEAN in Kebayoran Baru, Jakarta, as a Gender and Development initiative.  

Dr. Alvin Ang, former President of the Philippine Economic Society, served as the resource person of the seminar. H.E. Elizabeth P. Buensuceso, Permanent Representative of the Philippines to ASEAN, encouraged the participants to learn about financial management from the seminar titled, “Managing our Money Wisely: Learnings from the Book.”

Staff  of the Permanent Mission and the Philippine Embassy, Filipino staffers at the ASEAN Secretariat (ASEC) and members of the Filipino Community in Indonesia were taught about the basics of personal financial management, including skills that are important in wise money management -- assessing skills in handling money, recording of income and expenses and budgeting, personal planning, preparing savings and investment plans and learning about investing.

Dr. Ang urged the participants to think about attaining financial freedom, challenged their way of thinking on money matters and implement changes in their minds towards this goal.  

The lecture was well received by the Filipino participants with some of them saying that the seminar was an eye-opener. According to them, similar seminars would be useful to many Filipinos overseas. A few others noted that Dr. Ang’s presentation was backed by facts based on solid research from institutions such as the World Bank, and replete with personal experiences and cultural nuances, aphorisms from the Holy Bible and observations from Juan dela Cruz’s experiences.

A presentation by Land Bank of the Philippines on available financial instruments, investment options and remittance facilities in Indonesia, immediately followed the lecture.

After the seminar, the participants were treated to a buffet of Filipino specialties, including traditional viands and kakanin. Ambassador Buensuceso hosted the appreciation lunch for Filipinos at ASEC in celebration of their contributions to ASEAN Community building through their work at the Secretariat.

At the end of the seminar, Ambassador Buensuceso presented a plaque of appreciation to Dr. Alvin Ang whose advocacy includes mentoring on wise financial management through IPON or Initiative for the Prosperity of our Nation.  END