BPI empowers everyday heroes through financial wellness

The Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), through BPI Foundation, recently rolled out another FinEd unBOXED enablement session in collaboration with Ayala Corporation's “Saludo sa Serbisyo,” a cohesive, needs-based and sustainable program for the welfare of the Philippine National Police (PNP), Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), and Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP).

Over 100 PNP personnel in Batanes Province participated in the FinEd unBOXED seminar where they learned the basics of savings and budgeting, credit management, fundamentals of investing, and avoidance of fraud and scams.

“As BPI's corporate foundation, our mission is to help create and propagate a culture of financial wellness, with focus on the undeserved communities of society,” said BPI Corporate Affairs Head and BPI Foundation Executive Director Owen Cammayo.

"We understand the sacrifices you’ve given for the safety and security of our families, of our country. This is our way of giving back – to empower you, our everyday heroes, to enable you so you can take care of your own families too with the right mind set and approach toward financial matters,” he said during his opening remarks.

Ayala Corporation Managing Director Ambassador Marciano Paynor Jr. recognized the importance of the country’s front liners in keeping a peaceful environment.

“Ayala is motivated to help our uniformed men in any way we can. These people are the unsung heroes where their services are often neglected by many, if not most. This is one of the reasons why we expanded our reach, offering them a dedicated program that could help improve their lives and address their specific needs,” said Paynor.

On behalf of the Ivatan cops, PNP Region 2 Finance Service Office Chief PLCOL Neil Ilegario Miro expressed their gratitude to Ayala and BPI: “We are so grateful that this seminar has equipped our personnel with adequate and ample knowledge on how to properly handle, save, spend, and invest money obtained from their salaries.”

“This training is not only useful to our policemen but also to their spouses who are their partners in family financial planning and management,” PCOL Miro added.

The attendees also shared their delight in joining the financial education seminar. “It was a life changing session for us who want to save for our future. My three-hour travel from Itbayat to Basco was definitely worth it,” said Patrolman Marlon Alina.

Since the program’s inception in 2016, Ayala Corporation and BPI Foundation have already touched the lives of more than 4,000 men in uniform beneficiaries nationwide.