OFWs, kin to get lessons on financial literacy in approved House bill

The House of Representatives on Tuesday approved on third and final reading a bill providing free financial education to Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) and their families.

The measure under House Bill 10914 requires all OFWs to undergo financial education or literacy seminars which will be an integral part of the Pre-Departure Orientation Seminar (PDOS) of outbound OFWs.

Likewise, the OFWs are mandated to undergo a Post-Arrival Training Seminar (PATS) within a reasonable time upon their arrival in their respective countries of destination on their first employment contract, or those who transfer from one place of work to another without stopping by the Philippines.

Specific topics would include consumer protection, protection on mortgaged or collateralized properties, avoidance of exorbitant interests on loans or debts, and credit information on micro- and small-scale enterprises to prospective lenders, among others.

“This [measure] will give substance to the policy of the state to adopt measures that will take care of the welfare and benefits of OFWs and their families,” the committee report on the measure read.

“This [measure] will [also] protect all OFWs - either land-based or sea-based, documented or otherwise, and their families - from investment scams and provide them with the proper knowledge to save their money and avoid being victims thereof, and, if possible, make their money grow so that they and their families will enjoy a bright and worry-free future through appropriate education and training on financial literacy,” the committee report added.

The free mandatory financial education for OFWs and their families will be led by the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW), in coordination with the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), the Department of Finance (DOF), the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the Department of the Interior and Local Government.

In a related development, the House also approved on third reading House Bill 10959 providing for the protection of the remittances of OFWs.

The bill prohibits all banks and non-bank financial intermediaries offering remittance services to OFWs from raising their current remittance fees without prior consultation with the Department of Finance (DOF), Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), and the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW).—LDF, GMA Integrated News