(L)earning Wealth: SEDPI provides financial literacy to thousands of Filipinos here and abroad

 “Ang pagyaman, napag-aaralan.” This has been the statement which reverberates in the minds and hearts of every Filipino who underwent SEDPI’s financial literacy training.

 Vince Rapisura, president of SEDPI, is slowly becoming well-known as a financial guru helping Filipinos, in and out of the country, manage their money better. In 2019, SEDPI was able to reach and engage thousands of Filipinos from different walks of life in its financial literacy advocacy.

 Corporate workers

 SEDPI strives to inform Filipino workers about the value of right financial management and planning. Its trainings stress the advantages of being financially prepared in different stages of life through different instruments such as savings, insurance and investments, especially for our workers.

Monde Nissin, the largest noodle manufacturer in the country contracted SEDPI to provide financial advice and guidance to 40 floor assembly line workers and management staff who are near retirement. It was also commissioned to deliver financial literacy trainings to Acer Philippines in May 2019 where 60 participants attended the training. 

Non-Government Organization (NGO) workers and members

SEDPI was also able to reach and start a conversation on financial literacy with survivors of domestic violence and NGO workers providing support and services to victims of violence against women. This was made possible through ACTVE and Vital Voices that has a program on financial Literacy and Economic Empowerment for Survivors.

 Outreach to OFWs under the care of POLO/OWWA 

Not all Filipinos who work abroad find happy endings. A lot find themselves worse off compared ro when they were in the Philippines as they fell victim to illegal recruitment, human trafficking and employer abuse. Then there are also those who work in labor camps who rarely have the opportunity to access capacity building on financial literacy.

Alongside financial literacy events abroad, SEDPI makes sure to conduct outreach programs to these groups, Vince Rapisura, SEDPI president, spearheads this project in collaboration with his army of conVINCErs in various cities worldwide.

 The trainings enphasize a message of hope, helping Filipino migrants develop a long-term financial plan to get out of the cycle of debt and jumpstart saving and investing once they reintegrate back to the Philippines. The participants were given a list of cooperatives where they could become a member and help them start anew.

 Nearly 300 OFWs attended the outreach program and were all given free copies of Vince Rapisura’s (L)Earning Wealth book.

 Department of Education (DepEd) teachers and students

 SEDPI continues to train public schoool teachers and students to improve their financial literacy. In 2019, around 600 DepEd students were given financial literacy trainings though SEDPI’s partnership with PTC-Carlos Salinas Jr. (PTC-CSJ) Foundation. Participants in these trainings came from Muntinlupa National High School, Muntinlupa Alternative Learning System, and Malayan Colleges Laguna.

Financial literacy training was held with the Department of Education’s Division of Malaybalay where more than 1,000 teaching and non-teaching personnel participated.

Moving financial education forward

The year 2019 has been a fruitful year for SEDPI’s financial literacy program. It has been a year full of opportunities to open minds and hearts of people towards better financial management and planning. 

There are much more left to to do but the organization is confident that it is able to capacitate more and more people to gradually learn and earn wealth. SEDPI will continue with its advocacy directing people towards financial literacy as well as promoting social investments and social enterprises.