Albay Governor Joey Salceda said retirees, pensioners, and returning overseas Filipino workers (OFW) should be protected from falling prey to investment scammers who steal their hard-earned savings. The government should adopt tough and unassailable measures for their protection.
Salceda said that the Philippines has so much inactive savings which are not properly used because of “structural imbalances” in the economy. This causes returning OFWs and pensioners to fall victims to scams in their search for investments to increase their interest earnings.
The country’s high savings rates presently run up to about 42% of the gross domestic product. Its low investment rates are at 22%, which makes the idle funds an estimated PhP3 trillion.
Salceda said OFW remittances have contributed to the high savings rates. Therefore, these OFWs must be nurtured.
As a security measure, he proposed that Republic Act 9710 or the Magna Carta for Women be altered to become the Magna Carta for Women, Senior Citizens and Retirees. It should include policies that will protect the three parties from marketing and financial predators.
Via tribune
