With the Agricultural Credit Policy Council (DA-ACPC), the Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), and BDO Foundation (BDOF) at the forefront of ensuring the financial literacy of our farmers, fishers, and livestock raisers through the KITA Mo Na! (Kapital at Ipon Tungo sa Asenso) Financial Education (Fin-Ed) Training, the DA-ACPC shared best practices and innovative strategies in implementing the project during the 2023 Fin-Ed Stakeholders Congress held at SMX Convention Center on November 14, 2023.
(DA-ACPC Participants of the 2023 Fin-Ed Stakeholders Congress pose for a group photo at the SMX Convention Center.)
“We have something that we call a DA (Department of Agriculture) Department Order wherein we ensure that whoever the current DA Secretary is, our program with BSP and BDOF is institutionalized…, so even if the officers regularly change, it will continue.” shared DA-ACPC’s Communication and Public Affairs Division (CPAD) Chief Emmalyn Guinto.
(DA-ACPC’s CPAD Division Chief Emmalyn Guinto talks about the KITA Mo Na! Training amongst representatives from the Department of Education, Department of Migrant Workers, DA-Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, Armed Forces of the Philippines, BPI Foundation, and President Mario Deriquito of BDO Foundation, during the open forum of the 2023 Fin-Ed Stakeholders Congress.)
She also mentioned the recently concluded national training of trainers on September 11 to 15 in Laguna, where the DA-ACPC invited all DA Regional Agri-Credit Desk Officers to prepare them for the rollout of the Fin-Ed training for the fishers, farmers, and livestock raisers in their respective regions.
Aside from lessons shared by the different Fin-Ed partners of BSP, BDOF President Mario Deriquito spearheaded the launch of the Fin-Ed e-learning modules for the public and the ceremonial turnover of Fin-Ed training modules for the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
Key government agencies attended the congress, including members of the Financial Inclusion Steering Committee of the National Strategy for Financial Inclusion, Fin-Ed partners of the BSP, public and private institutions, international experts, development partners, civic society, academe, and advocates who work to achieve financial literacy for all Filipinos.
Since its inception in 2018, the congress has been “a place of shared learning, identifying challenges, and collaboratively finding innovative solutions,” BSP Deputy Governor Bernadette Romulo Puyat remarked.
The Financial Education Stakeholders Congress is the centerpiece event of financial education in the Philippines, organized annually by the BSP. It provides a venue for stakeholders to know who is doing what in Fin-Ed, share lessons learned, identify challenges, and explore solutions and opportunities. It aligns with Republic Act No. 10922, which designates the second week of November as Economic and Financial Literacy (EFL) Week, supporting the national goals of “Matatag, Maginhawa at Panatag na Buhay” under Ambisyon Natin 2040.