THE government conducted a two-day Financial Wellness Symposium at the Almendras Gym last August 22 to 23, in a bid to improve of the financial literacy of the Dabawenyos.

The event is a collaborative effort of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Philippines, and the Insurance Commission.

“Nandito kami kasi inimbitahan kami ng Davao City to conduct a Financial Wellnes Seminar. Ito ay para magturo ng concepts of financial literacy. It is interesting kasi for two days, we will be teaching people on financial management, on how to handle money, on savings, and investments,” PDIC corporate affairs group vice president Jose Villaret Jr. told reporters Thursday, August 22.

“Hindi lang enough na mayroon tayong pera at ginagamit natin ito. We have to make sure na we are using it wisely. [We] will share with [the participants] how to protect their money, how to protect their deposits, and how to protect ourselves from investment scams. We are sharing what we know on the financial sector to help the people of Davao,” he said.

Villaret said he cannot generalize in terms of how financially literate are the Dabawenyos but that there were observations that most young professionals in the city are having bad spending habits.

“We are so surprised that the young professionals, once they get their salary, they are so excited to spend it right away and it is more on non-essential things like fast foods and [expensive] coffee,” he said.

He added that a study even reported that an estimated 15 percent of the income of a young professional is spent on coffee shops thus, they cannot able to save.

Meanwhile, BSP Consumer Empowerment Group Center for Learning and Inclusion Advocacy (CEG-CLIA) acting director Rochelle Tomas said that while there is no direct correlation between financial status and financial education, but the latter has definitely contributed greatly to an individual’s economic development

During the first day of the seminar, local government employees were the participants, while college students on the following day. (LHC)