Aboitiz Hails BTr Initiative Promoting Financial Literacy and Inclusion
In its commitment to proactively support the country’s economic recovery, the Aboitiz Group partnered with the Department of Finance and the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) to facilitate Premyo Bonds 2 or PB-2.
As a special guest for PB-2’s 2nd Quarter Rewards Draw, Aboitiz Group President and CEO Sabin M. Aboitiz commended the BTr for opening opportunities for more Filipinos to contribute directly to the national COVID-19 response while building their own investment portfolio. Such a sustained financial literacy campaign, he said, is an important foundation towards uplifting the lives of Filipinos.
“Financial inclusion means different things to different people. For us, it means giving our kababayans access to a holistic and equitable financial system,” Aboitiz said. “But you cannot achieve financial inclusion without financial literacy. We don’t just want to provide a temporary fix; we want a sustainable solution that helps people out of poverty, which is the number one priority.”
Issued in December 2020, Premyo Bonds 2 is the second tranche of the government’s savings mobilization program to make government securities available to retail investors. Proceeds from Premyo Bonds 2 will be used to fund the country’s COVID-19 response and boost the Philippine economy.
“At its core, Premyo Bonds started with the vision of increasing financial inclusion among all Filipinos by giving them a simple, affordable, and safe way to start their investment journey. Specifically, for those who have never made any financial investments before,” explained National Treasurer, Rosalia De Leon.
“From the onset, Aboitiz has been a firm believer of our thrust to develop the retail investment market in the country as a way of mobilizing small savings for the funding of our country’s development,” she added.
The Aboitiz Group contributed PHP3 million to PB-2’s quarterly raffle cash prize while its banking subsidiary, UnionBank, is one of the bond program’s partner banks. In 2020, UnionBank also helped BTr facilitate the launch of BONDS.PH, the first blockchain-enabled retail treasury bond issuance in Asia.
“We are glad to have the opportunity to work with the Bureau of Treasury and the Department of Finance again, this time to facilitate the second tranche of Premyo Bonds. We are seeing that more Filipinos are interested in understanding and taking up investment products, and Premyo Bonds 2 is a great way to encourage this further,” Aboitiz noted.
He added: “Clearly, we still have a long way to go, but, as we in Aboitiz have said many times, partnerships between the public and private sectors are going to be the key ingredient in ensuring that the needs of our communities are addressed more equitably and sustainably.”
