CBCP, insurance firm launch program for OFW families

Families of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) stand to benefit from a new savers' program launched by the Catholic Church and a life insurance firm.

The Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines and Pioneer Life Inc. launched the Pamilyang OFW Savers and Wellness Club with a memorandum of agreement last July 29.

"Pamilyang OFW Savers and Wellness Club is a program for the families of the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) that aims to address their financial wellness. It intends to help them bank the remittances they receive through a savings program such as a saver’s ID bundled with a saving and investing account," the CBCP said in an article on its website (www.cbcpnews.com).

According to the CBCP Episcopal Commission for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People (CBCP-ECMI), the program gives OFWs' families tips on savings and investment.

Under the program is a “financial wellness workshop" where the diocesan migrant’s desk and the some related organizations discuss such tips.

Pioneer cited data from the Customer Expectations Survey of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showing that in the second quarter of 2009, the percentage of households that allotted portions of remittances to savings dropped slightly to 38.3 percent from 40 percent in first quarter 2009.

“It was also noted that, following household and education expenses, more than half of OFW families (51.1 percent) allotted a bulk of the remittances for paying their debts," it stated.

Pioneer Life CEO Lorenzo Chan said their company intends to help pursue the vision of ECMI regarding the migrant workers and their families.

“Our aim is to complement one of CBCP-ECMI’s objectives of making the sons and daughters of OFWs productive partners of their families. By doing their part in responsibly managing the money they receive from abroad, no matter how young or old they may be, children of OFWs can hope for the earlier return of their parent-OFWs to the Philippines," he said.

For his part, Edmund Ruga, ECMI Luzon Coordinator, also expressed the reason for their partnership with the Pioneer Life.

“We partnered with Pioneer because we saw their sincerity in working towards the same objective of helping the families save and invest for the future," he said.

He said the constant support of the insurance company on this program will have “a greater chance of bringing the Filipino families back together after being separated because of the need to earn money abroad." - GMANews.TV

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