Sixty-five Foreign Service students at New Era University recently completed a financial literacy workshop organized by the Commission on Filipinos Overseas, with the agency underscoring the role that sound money management plays in converting diaspora earnings into lasting economic gains.
Many of the participants are themselves children of overseas Filipino workers — a demographic the CFO considers central to its broader mission of ensuring that remittances generate sustainable benefits beyond household consumption. Warner Dawal, Senior Emigrant Services Officer of the CFO Project Management Division, walked students through what the agency calls the “Three Pillars of Diaspora Engagement,” framing remittances as potential capital for local enterprise rather than routine financial support for families.
The CFO, established in 1980 under the Office of the President, is mandated to promote the welfare of Filipino emigrants and permanent residents abroad while maintaining their links to the Philippines. Its PESO Sense Program extends that mandate domestically, targeting the families and beneficiaries of migration with financial education aimed at building long-term economic resilience.
NEU ASEAN Studies Center Director Prof. Noe Pobadora described the workshop as consistent with where higher education should be heading. “Integrating financial literacy in academic institutions helps students develop responsible financial behaviors at an early stage,” he said. The university has signaled plans to bring the CFO’s PESO Sense team back for a separate training session aimed at faculty.
The CFO conducts similar seminars across the country, reaching remittance recipients, returning migrants, and students as part of an ongoing push to anchor financial discipline within communities most affected by overseas migration.
