In recognition of its efforts to promote financial inclusion and contribute to the development of a financially literate citizenry, BDO Foundation, the corporate social responsibility arm of BDO Unibank, was conferred the prestigious Corporate Social Responsibility Program of the Year Gold Award by Asian Banking & Finance.
It is the third consecutive year that the foundation has received the accolade, the highest honor given by the Singapore-based finance publication to corporate foundations.
The Corporate Social Responsibility Program of the Year Gold Award was accepted on behalf of the foundation by BDO Transaction Banking Group head Edwin Reyes at the Retail Banking Awards 2019 held in Singapore.
The annual awards ceremony recognizes organizations that deliver outstanding products and services. This year’s event gathered more than 270 executives from over 30 countries across the Asia-Pacific region.
BDO Foundation was cited for its financial education program for public schools, a partnership project with the Department of Education and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.
The corporate citizenship initiative, which supports BSP’s National Strategy for Financial Inclusion, helps strengthen the financial literacy component of DepEd’s K-12 curriculum as well as its training and development programs for teachers and non-teaching personnel.
As part of the program, the partners produced financial literacy videos, discussion guides and lesson plans that cover such topics as savings, budgeting, investments, managing debt, the responsible use of credit, entrepreneurship and avoiding scams.
The program is now integrated in the DepEd system, and its learning resources are available in the education department’s online portal, where they can be readily accessed by teachers.
More than 800,000 teachers and non-teaching personnel, and an estimated 24 million students in over 47,000 public schools across the country stand to benefit from the initiative.
According to BDO Foundation president Mario Deriquito, “Our program for public schools is just one of several programs in the area of financial inclusion.”
“In collaboration with BSP, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, Philippine Army, and Civil Service Commission, we have also embarked on financial education programs for overseas Filipino workers and their families, uniformed soldiers and civilian personnel of the army, and civil servants in the entire government bureaucracy,” Deriquito said.
“The recognition from Asian Banking & Finance further strengthens our resolve to pursue our financial inclusion advocacy and develop more innovative interventions and relevant programs,” he added.
Last year, BDO Foundation was recognized by Asian Banking & Finance for developing a community, supporting the livelihood and constructing 100 typhoon-resilient resettlement homes in Leyte for persons with disabilities and their families displaced and left homeless by Typhoon Yolanda.
The previous year, the foundation was awarded for successfully rehabilitating rural health units in disaster-stricken and economically disadvantaged communities all over the Philippines and helping improve the healthcare delivery system in the country.
The award from Asian Banking & Finance is the third received by BDO Foundation this year for its financial inclusion advocacy.
For its successful collaboration with BSP in developing financial education programs, the foundation was conferred the Outstanding Financial Education Partner Award by Bangko Sentral.
Earlier this year, its financial education program for public schools was also named one of the best corporate social responsibility projects in Asia at the Asia Responsible Enterprise Awards 2019.