Sen. Bam Aquino Urges Students To Promote Financial Literacy, Report Truth In Sun Life Sinag Students Summit

Senator Bam Aquino calls on all Filipino students to promote the importance of financial literacy as a vital part of the Philippine’s future during the recently-concluded Sinag Students Summit, a financial journalism literacy conference for aspiring journalism students held recently at the SGV Conference Hall of the Asian Institute of Management (AIM).

In his keynote address, Aquino stated that many Filipinos go through that entire school system without ever coming across financial literacy, and this was one of the reasons why, as chairman of the Committee on Youth in the last Congress, he pushed for the passage of the Youth Entrepreneurship Act. “This law basically mandates that the Department of Education, Commission on Higher Education, and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority include financial literacy in the curriculum of our schools. We’re hoping this can be implemented in the next school year,” he said. “We passed this law specifically to try to address our financial literacy problem. If this is taught in schools and is complemented with what you do as campus journalists and future journalists, I think it will be very important that that synergy is there so we can make sure that our countrymen – especially the youth – are empowered, equipped, and responsible when it comes to utilizing finances.”

Aquino also reiterated the importance of reporting the truth for the aspiring journalists. “These days, a lot of misinformation is going around. Just open your Facebook or look at Twitter, and you’ll see that sometimes the volume of misinformation is even more than the volume of actual information. It goes back to basic responsible journalism,” he said. “As people studying journalism, you understand how it’s very important to check your sources, don’t use headlines which are clickbait or could confuse your readers, and you try to push for things that will not just sell, but are more importantly, the truth.”

Aquino was one of the speakers in the Sinag Students Summit which was organized by Sun Life Financial in order to educate students on the significance of advocating financial literacy in the country. The event was also graced by other notable speakers: Sun Life Chief Marketing Officer Mylene Lopa who discussed the Filipinos behavior towards money; top economist Luz Lorenzo  who spoke about the Philippines’ bright prospects and why now is a good time for Filipinos to know more about managing their finances; wealth and life coach Chinkee Tan who enumerated reasons why students should embrace financial literacy as an advocacy; Philippine Daily Inquirer Senior Reporter Doris Dumlao- Abadilla who spoke about how it’s like to pursue a career in journalism and promote financial literacy;  TV5 and Bloomberg Philippines Broadcast Journalist Gerard dela Pena who talked about finding the heart of a story;  and investment advocate and speaker Aya Laraya who gave tips on how the students can have a bright start in their own financial journey.