The state must institute its financial education programs for employees, according to a bill introduced in the House of Representatives.
Employees will be able to spend their hard-earned money wisely and be protected from scams that have proliferated in the nation’s rapidly expanding online business thanks to House Bill 9888, which was introduced by Rep. Brian Raymund Yamsuan of the Bicol Saro party-list party.
The best way to protect Filipinos from false activities, according to Yamsuan, is to teach them how to manage their finances and spot false financial techniques. Over P155 million are said to have been lost to various types of frauds in the first eight months of 2023 only.
Yamsuan’s HB 9888 outlines a campaign to make financial literacy materials widely available to the public through various communication platforms. It does this by establishing the Department of Labor and Employment ( DOLE), Departments of Trade and Industry (DTI), and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.
To broaden the scope of their financial literacy courses, they may also collaborate with other government organizations and state-owned and handled corporations, according to Yamsuan.
The government, through the DOLE, may take the lead in bridging the economic education divide among Filipinos, Yamsuan said.” While the online market has provided us with many advantages, it has also spawned all types of scams that have robbed many of our kababayans of their hard-earned money.”
The Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group ( PNP- ACG) claims that it has received over 8, 000 problems of different online schemes from patients who lost more than P155 million between January and August of last year. These frauds include, among other things, phony opportunities, job offers, and mortgage offers.
Due to the fact that many victims choose not to record or record fraudsters, Yamsuan speculated that these figures may even be higher.
Because these crimes usually develop into even more advanced means of misleading the public, law enforcement cannot combat digital fraud on its own. The government is strengthen its financial education courses to prevent frauds, which is an extremely crucial step to protect the public from them, he continued.
The financial education materials to be made available to the public” may be presented in an easily comprehensible format, and translated in Filipino and Bicolano, as well as other related local languages and dialects, to maintain a wider reach of the materials for the expected audience,” according to HB 9888 or the proposed Financial Literacy and Fraud Prevention for Workers Act.
In order for eligible companies and working businesses to run financial literacy courses and fraud detection and prevention lectures for their labor, the DOLE is furthermore authorized to grant grants to them.
According to the act, organizations applying for grants must go through a clear and aggressive selection process that is established by the DOLE. Regular evaluations should also be carried out to assess the success of the financial education and fraud protection plans ‘ application.
According to the bill, additional government agencies, government-owned and controlled corporations ( GOCCs ), banking and credit facilities, and other organizations are also required to incorporate financial literacy initiatives into their operations and services, including “organizing regular seminars for employees and conducting preparatory sessions or lectures for loan applicants, among others.”
The Philippines has seen a rise in financial schemes and fraudulent activities targeting innocent people due to the high proportion of Filipinos who lack proper economic training. A BSP study found that 11 percent of Filipino people lost money in 2021 as a result of lottery or award scams, investment fraud, and phishing schemes.
Just 2% of the polled Filipino adults effectively answered all questions on basic financial education, according to the same BSP study.
In order to empower workers, it is necessary to increase economic literacy. This is done not only by teaching them to understand and protect themselves from fraudulent schemes, but also by making sure they are well-versed in the fundamentals of finance. In the end, this would enable them to choose wisely and financially, which would help create a more secure financial setting, according to Yamsuan.