Social Welfare Secretary Rex Gatchalian on Tuesday underscored the importance of financial education in protecting the welfare of the poor and vulnerable sectors, emphasizing that financial literacy is tantamount to social protection.

Gatchalian made the statement during the launch of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ Innovative Financial Education Programs held at the Intramuros Room of the BSP head office in Malate, Manila.

“We believe that the main mandate of the DSWD (Department of Social Welfare and Development) is social protection for the poor, marginalized, and vulnerable. What better way to provide social protection than to do financial literacy?” Gatchalian said.

“After all, financial literacy is protecting the poor, the vulnerable, and the marginalized because they tend to be the biggest victims of different scams online, and their fear of banking also serves as a barrier towards their total development,” he added.

One of the highlights of the BSP event was the signing of a memorandum of agreement among the DSWD, BSP, and the Banco De Oro (BDO) Foundation for the implementation of financial education programs for DSWD employees and social welfare officers of local government units.

The MoA was signed by Secretary Gatchalian, BSP Deputy Governor Bernadette Romulo-Puyat, BDO Unibank Inc. president and CEO Nestor Tan and BDO Foundation president Mario Deriquito.