Imagine the benefits a microentrepreneur and his family can derive from gaining access to a lower-priced bank loan in place of a 1,000% loan from non-bank sources. Finance education and consumer protection are equally important components of financial empowerment. In this connection, we salute the Department of Education for being our active partner in bringing financial education to millions of our schoolchildren.
We also acknowledge the banks who help our youth develop the habit of saving and give lessons on personal finance to teachers and parents. So far, we have made significant strides in the development of the Philippine microfinance sector that has liberated millions of entrepreneurial Filipinos from poverty and transformed them into net savers in banks.