Gearing for OFWs' financial wellness

By Maricar Cinco
Southern Luzon Bureau
Posted date: November 23, 2008

A FAMILY that "saves" together would stay together, specially during hard times.

This is what the proponents of the Pamilyang OFW Savers' Club, a financial fitness program, believes when they decided to put up the program to teach sons and daughters of OFWs (SDOs) and immigrants to make wise financial decisions with the remittances sent by their parents.

Moreover, the program promotes the Christian value of reuniting families separated by the need of the parents to work away from home for a better living.

The project is a product of the partnership between the Pioneer group of companies, a life and nonlife insurance firm and the Lipa Archdiocesan Commission for Migrants and Mission (Lacmmi).

Lacmmi is the migrant commission of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines-Episcopal Commission for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People (CBCP-ECMI) in Batangas.

It was a "chance encounter" in 2006 between Fr. Jojo Gonda and June Inabayan of Lacmmi and Pioneer, respectively, that gave birth to the project. This was followed by a series of meetings that resulted in CBCP-ECMI endorsing the financial program to its migrant commissions in the regions.

Batangas, having the highest concentration of migrant workers according to Rolly Robles, Pioneer senior vice president, was chosen to be the program's pilot area.

The Pamilyang OFW Savers' Club was finally launched in the province in October at the Lipa Youth Sports and Cultural Center.

Amid the crises plaguing the country and the global market, Fr. Edwin Corros of ECMI believed in the relevance of instilling the value of saving.

In an e-mail sent to Inquirer, he said "the global financial meltdown stresses the significance of creating a targeted program that can equip the sons and daughters of OFWs with saving skills."

The program has two modules, which begin at asking SDOs to envision the kind of family they want to have.

The children are then asked to think of various ways on how to make these dreams happen, with focus on the financial aspect.

Lastly, they are asked to think of ways to better manage their financial resources, particularly the money their parents send them.

"Children will realize the importance of saving some money, why they have to save and what its impact is to the entire family," said Robles.

At the end of the module, children are given piggy banks where they can put in money every school day.

"The amount of money depends on how much they need to be able to attain the financial goal they identified during the first session," Robles explained.

This part, he added, is the application of the earlier sessions.

SDO coordinators, who are teachers or guidance counselors of schools, keep the piggy banks and record the students who put in money regularly.

Once the savings reach a certain amount, SDOs may convert the money into "bite-sized savings product" that Pioneer calls the Sparxx (read as Sparx to the x) with an interest rate of 3-3.5 percent.

"We teach them the habit of saving (and) how possible it is to save regardless of their parents' income," he said.

Earlier homecoming
Not only that saving for the rainy season is a value inculcated in the SDOs, but the program is also geared toward attaining a "shared dream in life" to reintegrate the Filipino family.

"The sons and daughters of OFWs (should become) partners of their families for the early return of the parents," Robles said.

He explained how SDOs are taught to give high value to the money their parents work for and send to them. And the more unwisely the children spend their money could delay their parents' coming back to the Philippines as they would need to work harder abroad.

According to him, "the capability of the SDOs to effect the early return of their parents is immense because they are the main beneficiaries of OFW remittances."

Upon returning to the Philippines, OFWs may look forward to a sustainable livelihood with their children by using the earnings as capital to start an investment.

The program also serves as a bridge connecting the children to their parents overseas.

After the session with the SDOs, a team of Pioneer employees flies abroad to hold a similar session with the parents.

"The team takes a video of the children and their output, making the parents excited for the next session," Robles said.

Asked what the group plans of the project, he said "as soon as we have a success story to tell we can replicate this in other dioceses that are ready and willing to implement this in their areas."

Pioneer, Robles said, has also been conducting a similar financial program for seafarers, professionals, community leaders and the company's clients and employees.