Diplomats share financial wisdom

Jed Dayang, consul and second secretary of the Philippine Embassy to Seoul, gives a lecture to Filipino migrant workers at the embassy during the financial literacy campaign. Philippine Ambassador Luis Cruz, seated right, was also a lecturer. Provided by the embassy

Elizer Penaranda, 32, knew he had to do something to weather the global financial crisis in Korea, but he did not know what.

The possibility that his company in Gunpo, Gyeonggi might lay him off to save costs unnerved the Filipino migrant worker. Adding insult to injury, the Korean currency fell about 30 percent this year against the Philippine peso, reducing the value of what he sends home.

A helping hand came from the Philippine Embassy in Seoul. Under its financial literacy campaign, the first of its kind for migrant workers in Korea, the embassy hosted some 30 Filipinos from Gunpo last month. Penaranda said they were all motivated to save more money.

“We learned that we have to be careful in spending our money,” said Penaranda in a telephone interview from Gunpo Monday. “We don’t spend as much as before or choose cheaper commodities.”

It’s little known to the Korean public, but many migrant workers spend a lot of the money they make here unwisely due to lack of financial planning.

According to the Philippine Embassy, the average savings ratio for Filipino migrant workers in Korea is around 20 percent. The current financial turmoil is bringing the problem to a head.

Launched in March, the financial awareness campaign encourages workers to save money and invest instead of merely consume.

The program has attracted more than 500 participants, the embassy said. Around 50,000 Filipinos work in Korea. “The reason why we came up with this program is because we found that not all of them save money. Even though they work here three years, they are almost penniless,” said Jed Dayang, consul and second secretary of the Philippine Embassy to Seoul, the program’s main architect.

“It’s not just telling them that you have to save, but we actually give them tools how to do it,” he said.

The campaign provides participants with a series of two-hour seminars in which instructors including Ambassador Luis Cruz lecture on financial management and savings skills. Various business opportunities in Korea are also explored. The key to the program is to make saving a top priority in their financial plan.

According to the Philippine Embassy, many migrant workers get caught up in a sense of being “middle class.” Earning up to 10 times as much money as they would at home, they spend on unnecessary things. Dayang calls them “temporary middle class.”

“They change their lifestyle here. But the problem is it’s not sustainable because workers will have to return home,” he said. The embassy recommends a new formula - “income minus savings equals expense.”

The result is positive.

Dayang cited a recent survey of program participants which showed most had more financial knowledge and changed their spending.

“They said they are willing to save. Most importantly, they share with family,” Dayang said. “They are moving toward the goal of financial freedom and building wealth.”

By Moon Gwang-lip Staff Reporter [joe@joongang.co.kr]