HANDOG PAG-ASA, a Project of BAIPHIL
Agnes Santos
The Bankers Institute of the Philippines, Inc. (BAIPHIL) founded in 1941, is a non-stock, non-profit association of banks and bankers. Over a span of 8 decades, BAIPHIL has achieved significant milestones in a number of areas, in a myriad of ways in the service of its members and the banking industry as a whole.
BAIPHIL is an acknowledged strategic partner of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), a steadfast partner in promoting banking excellence given its capacity building programs and activities aimed at enabling banks to practice good governance and keep pace with the changing regulatory and business environment.
BAIPHIL provides quality training programs, workshops and event offerings geared towards professional growth, keeping abreast with market developments and the evolution of the regulatory environment, as well as opportunities to interact and exchange ideas with other professionals in the banking industry and other field specialists.
Aside from its main function of organizing and holding formal training courses and workshops for bankers, it is continuously in search of new avenues and non-traditional channels for fostering quality education. In support of the BSP’s advocacy to pursue an inclusive financial system, BAIPHIL through its Special Projects Committee (SPC) has become an active partner in teaching personal finance management to public school teachers and parents of school children through its Financial Education Program. It aims to improve people’s quality of life through financial education.
Another flagship project of the SPC is the annual Medical Dental Mission held for depressed areas in Bayambang, Pangasinan. Together with the Mobile Clinic of its partner, the SM Foundation, Inc. a contingent of volunteer members, doctors, dentists, nurses troop to the town’s events center to provide free medical consultation, dental services, free medicines, X-Ray and laboratory tests, for the much awaited and appreciated medical mission. The LGU is a partner in this endeavor.
During the pandemic when face to face engagement was not possible, a new venue for reaching out was created. The Handog Pag-asa sub-committee was born. It is an advocacy driven committee that responds to calls for help and helps uplift the lives of those in the marginalized and vulnerable sectors. Handog Pag-asa conducts fund sourcing activities to augment its in-house budget and be able to finance more positive and impactful outreach programs. It successfully marshaled financial support from individual members, institutional members, relatives and friends enabling the delivery of urgent financial assistance when and where it mattered most.
To date, Handog Pag-asa has extended assistance to 24 worthy beneficiaries composed of Houses of Charity, Community Pantries, Feeding Programs in depressed areas, Calamity stricken victims, Convents and Seminary experiencing Covid 19 outbreaks, Persons Denied of Liberty, and Students for their school needs. Now that the Covid 19 pandemic has slowed down, the Team thought it’s time to step up assistance to the often neglected area of Education.
Handog Pag-asa shifted focus to the conduct of outreach programs aimed at promoting the upliftment of education in vulnerable and marginalized communities. Said programs are undertaken solely on its own, such as the financial assistance extended to the Iskolars ng Pasig, or in collaboration with a member bank, Security Bank, in the case of its recent donation to students of the Cabongaoan Elementary School (CES) in a remote town in Burgos, Pangasinan, or through known reputable established organizations, such as the Laura Vicuña Women”s Development Training Center.
For CES, populated by 122 students from Kinder to Grade 6, we donated computers, printer, children’s books and magazines, school and art supplies, sports equipment, board games, etc. to facilitate distant learning and developing well rounded students, physically and mentally.
Laura Vicuña’s own focus on education of less fortunate youth pursuing vocational courses, their parents being sugarcane workers, fisher folks or household helps that cannot afford to send them to school, is aligned with BAIPHIL’s mission and focus on fostering education. BAIPHIL contributed funds to support the Institution’s undertakings.
Handog-Pag-asa still has worthy beneficiaries on queue needing support for their educational needs. One such project is the community headed by Ka Toto in Mt. Purro, Calawis , Antipolo. It is up in the mountain populated by indigenous Dumagats consisting of 100 households. The community is in need of high powered modems to help their children in their online studies and also to be used by the parents in marketing their products online. Hence, providing assistance to the Mt. Purro community will be two pronged — education and livelihood . The Rotary Club of Mutya ng Pasig is also a benefactor of this community.
We look forward to a positive and bright future hoping the seeds that we plant today, will grow, bloom and continue to take root, like BAIPHIL.