Save a peso, gain a future

A centavo saved is a peso gained.

Who among you had a piggy bank in your youth, from which you probably attempted to retrieve a coin or two on several occasions? Who had a Kiddie Account in your parents’ banks, for the free stickers and pencils if not the minimal interest? Who moved on to more complex financial portfolios like regular savings accounts, time deposits, stock options?

Who knows the moral of the story of “The Ant and the Grasshopper”? Yes, save for the rainy days. (All summer, the ant stored food while the grasshopper played. Come winter, the ant had lots of food while the grasshopper starved.) What are the rainy days for which we now save? Our children’s education, that dream vacation, our own house, that incredible car, our own business venture, our retirement years, what else?

Yes, saving can be considered the IN thing, the quest to aim for, the right thing to do if we want to gain something.

Tonight, I share with you a saving technique with an agency usually associated with housing. For the Pag-IBIG Fund is not just the Filipino workers’ partner in housing finance, it is also our partner in provident savings.

WHAT is Pag-IBIG Fund? When it was created 29 years ago, the Home Development Mutual Fund or Pag-IBIG Fund built a provident fund that encouraged the Filipino workers to save a few pesos of their monthly salary, the accumulated savings to be withdrawn upon maturity. Through the years, the Pag-IBIG Fund has grown from a workers’ provident fund to the country’s premier provider of housing finance. Thus, if we are not housing loan borrowers, we may likely complain of our Pag-IBIG deduction upon seeing our payslip. Why do I have to shell-out P100 for my Pag-IBIG contribution, when I don’t even plan on buying a house, you might say. I could have used those hundred pesos for other things, you might even add. But then, it is good to save with Pag-IBIG.

HOW do we save with Pag-IBIG Fund? Those hundred pesos from your salary coupled with another hundred pesos from your employer comprise your monthly contribution. And your monthly contributions are added up to become your total accumulated value or TAV. What’s more, at the end of the year, your TAV is further fattened-up by the annual dividend proportionately credited by the Pag-IBIG Fund to its members’ TAV.

WHY save with Pag-IBIG Fund? When we hear the good news that the Pag-IBIG Fund earns billions a year, we actually experience this good news in the form of dividends. Although it is mandated to set aside annually no less than 70% of its net income as dividends, in 2009 the Pag-IBIG Fund declared P8.5 Billion in dividends, representing 71% of its net income for that year.

Now, you may ask, What do I need my Pag-IBIG Fund TAV for? You might even strongly opine, It doesn’t amount to any substantial value, with two hundred pesos a month, twenty-four hundred pesos a year plus dividend!

I next offer you three ways of looking at your Pag-IBIG contributions, for you to appreciate your TAV all the more.

First, your TAV could be your NEST EGG, if you are an employee.

Think about it, we don’t pay much attention to the hundred pesos deducted from our salary, since we focus our eyes on the net pay. Now, what if we double our contribution, add another hundred or more? Our TAV will then increase double or more, depending on how much we increased our contribution. An additional hundred pesos or more equates to just a combo meal or a restaurant entree. We will hardly feel the added deduction. But we will certainly feel the added gains when we withdraw our TAV upon maturity.

Your TAV fills your wallet when you retire.

Second, your TAV could be your RETIREMENT PACKAGE for your employees, if you are an employer.

Think about it, if you are in business, you likely pay more attention on cutting costs than adding value to your personnel. Now, if you increase your employer counterpart to your employees’ Pag-IBIG contribution to more than the mandated hundred pesos, you will be sending a good message to your workforce. As a result of matching their increased monthly contribution, your employees’ TAV subsequently increases, providing them an ample fund for their retirement years.

Your employees’ TAV will fill their wallet when they retire, and they will surely thank you for their high TAV.

Third, your TAV could be your INVESTMENT, if you are a self-employed professional.

Think about it, you don’t consider Pag-IBIG Fund unless you plan on buying a house. Now, if you’re self-employed, either with your own small enterprise or with your practice as a professional, I invite you to look at Pag-IBIG Fund in a new way. Registering with Pag-IBIG Fund and growing your TAV could be an investment opportunity where you can place a part of your income in sales or professional fees into the Fund, a mutual fund. Remember, your TAV earns dividends each year, dividends which have been increasing every year since Pag-IBIG Fund is performing well.

Your TAV fills your wallet when you harvest the rewards of your passive income.

I now invite you to start looking at the other face of Pag-IBIG Fund, its provident savings feature. The Pag-IBIG Fund remains your partner, both in realizing your dream of homeownership and in saving for a stable future.

By adding a few pesos to your Pag-IBIG Fund TAV, you gain a brighter future. Let Pag-IBIG Fund be your piggy bank in your adulthood. Save up, save now, and save with Pag-IBIG Fund!

- Basic Speech No. 3: Get to the point
Presented at a Butter N Toast Toastmasters Club session on 11 March 2010

Urban Dwellers, get involved! We can plan our future!

delivered before the participants of the Public Speaking Seminar at the Pag-IBIG Fund Corporate Headquarters
on October 7, 2009
(upper photo)

Speech No. 2 - Organizing your speech
delivered before the members of Butter N Toast Toastmasters Club
on October 8, 2009
(lower photo)

A day before typhoon Ondoy unleashed its wrath in Metro Manila and nearby provinces, I was preparing my and my six-year-old daughter Luce’s week-end gear. We were to spend the next two days in Makati, as we were supposed to join the 3-km event of the New Balance Power Run. Makati was a more convenient take-off point to the event at the Fort on September 27, rather than our home in Marikina, a couple of hours away. As an afterthought, I placed her Enchanted Kingdom poncho raincoat atop her I Can Serve Foundation shirt. “In case it drizzles during the run,” I told myself.

As we all know, it did not drizzle that week-end of September 26 and 27. The gates of heaven opened wide and poured far-from-heavenly rain on Filipino urbanites, drenching not just our bodies and our homes, but our souls as well. In the aftermath, as the people waded through floodwaters, as they dug through their belongings mixed with mud and garbage, different sectors started blaming each other, pointing an accusing finger on each other’s negligence and supposed role in the tragedy that Ondoy brought us.

The Ondoy experience now proves to be a good wake up call for all of us, whether we are mere citizens of the Philippines or officials, policy drafters, or lawmakers of the land. All of us, no matter our status in life, are stakeholders in our planet, in our country, in our habitat, in our urban dwellings. And as stakeholders, we hold responsibility for our future.

Allow me to share with you these passages from the UN Habitat website: “The United Nations has designated the first Monday of October every year as World Habitat Day. The idea is to reflect on the state of our towns and cities and the basic right of all to adequate shelter. It is also intended to remind the world of its collective responsibility for the future of the human habitat. This year’s theme “Planning our urban future” aims to raise awareness of the need to improve urban planning to deal with new challenges of the 21^st century. This is because urban settlements in all parts of the world are being influenced by new and powerful forces. In both developed and developing countries, cities and towns are increasingly feeling the effects of climate change, resource depletion, food insecurity, population growth and economic instability.”

I now take this opportunity to challenge you, my fellow urban dwellers, to take action towards a well-planned future in urban Philippines. For starters, I share with you three circles of influence within which we can start planning our urban future.

The first circle of influence is the easiest, as it involves only our individual selves.

Perhaps, we can start by taking stock of our personal practices. Do we drive our self to the community mall when we can walk instead? Do we ride the elevator two floors up, while we can take the stairs? Do we run our errands crisscrossing the metropolis, while we can plan our route and maximize our errand time? Do we throw our small items of rubbish here and there, while we can keep them in our pockets and later throw them in a garbage can somewhere? Do we lavishly take long baths and showers, when we can use timba and tabo? Do we prefer motorcycles over bikes, battery-powered items over wind-ups, plastic bags over eco bags? I hope we can proudly answer, “No, I don’t. I care for my habitat.”

A caring individual carries the good habits with him or her, constantly practices them, and eventually becomes their embodiment, possibly inspiring the bigger circles around him or her.

The second circle of influence is not that far from us, as it includes our family and friends.

Let us now widen our circle and invite our families and friends to join us in our quest for a better urban future. Do we place our garbage in one bin instead of segregating them? Do we use separate cars instead of carpooling? Do we spend much time on television or video games instead of playing electricity-free and creative-rich games? Do we prefer a concrete backyard over a greener one, new items over recycled ones? I hope we can proudly answer, “No, my family and friends don’t. We care for our habitat.”

A caring family passes on to the younger generations and even future generations the traits of responsibility and accountability, creating generations of individuals who care.

The third circle of influence is much wider, as it now encompasses our community, be this our residential community, office community, or online community.

Let us next enlist our respective communities in our move to have a better urban future. Do we confine ourselves inside our houses rather than go out and participate in community endeavors? Do we practice kanya-kanya, tayo-tayo, or sila-sila, rather than join forces as one community? Do we tend to complain rather than suggest alternatives or passively receive benefits rather than actively participate in planning? I hope we can proudly answer, “No, our community don’t. We care for our habitat.”

A caring community leads to stronger and more collective action, an advantageous leverage if we want our Congress Representatives to hear our calls for a greener district.

A little over a week after typhoon Ondoy left the Philippine area of responsibility, the world celebrated World Habitat Day last October 5. This year’s theme: “Planning our urban future” now sounds more personal to us, Filipinos. The Filipino urban dwellers face the seemingly unsurmountable task of rebuilding our homes and our lives.

A mere raincoat will not surely protect us from future typhoons, as our urban kingdom has lost its enchantment. However, no mud-filled floodwater could wash away the Filipino people’s strong spirit. Let us be caring individuals from a caring family, in a caring community. Let us do our part as individuals, as a family, as a community. Let us get up, get out, get involved!