11 March 2021 - The Philippine Embassy in Lebanon successfully conducted “The Basics of Saving and Budgeting," its first webinar for women OFWs in Lebanon, on 07 March 2021. The webinar was held in partnership with the Overseas Filipino Bank (OF Bank), and is part of activities to mark National Women’s Month and International Women’s Day.

207 women OFWs participated in the Embassy’s first Financial Literacy webinar.

In his opening remarks, Chargé d’affaires Ajeet-Victor S. Panemanglor noted that, as Filipinos in Lebanon are affected by the country’s ongoing economic crisis, the webinar was timelier than ever. OF Bank representatives Gerald Heriales and Jose Emmanuel Valdez then took participants through the basics of budgeting, and briefed them on helpful services for OFWs provided by OF Bank.

This is the first webinar in the Embassy’s financial literacy webinar series. It garnered a total of 207 online attendees, the highest turnout in actual attendance for OF Bank organized webinars. The Embassy aims to hold a financial literacy webinar together with OF Bank every Sunday of March 2021 at 10:00 AM (Beirut time). Upcoming webinar topics include Online Banking, The Basic of Investments, and the OFW Reintegration Program.

CDA Panemanglor noted the value of this webinar to OFWs in Lebanon facing an economic crisis even while still sending money home to their families.

95% of OFWs in Lebanon are women, and the Embassy hopes that this overwhelmingly positive response to the webinar will equip them with the basic financial management tools needed for a more secure future, especially in this time of the COVID-19 pandemic.

OF Bank is a digital-only and the first branchless Philippine bank, which provides convenient, reliable, and secure banking solutions responsive to the needs of overseas Filipinos/OFWs and their beneficiaries. END