Agnes Marelid, CEO of Mid Night Sun MNS Corp., Jorhie Alban, Head/Director of Communications and CSR at Sanofi, Cleo Eleazar, PR and Events Manager at RAKEZ, and Dr. Karen Remo, CEO of New Perspective Media Group and Chairman of the Philippine Economic and Investment Summit and the Philippine Property and Investment Exhibition (PPIE) joined together in an insightful panel discussion on the topic “It’s Ok not to be Ok: Breaking the Cycle!” during the 9th edition of the PPIE.
The panel discussion centered around financial literacy where each of them shared their insights and experiences on how to achieve financial freedom.
Talking about the time in their lives when they struggled in their finances, Eleazar said: “In 2008, I basically reached the bottom. Nawala ‘yung investments, nabaon sa utang. But ang learning ko doon is that, don’t give up. [My thinking] that time is I don’t want to be stuck in that situation so I found ways to basically get out of it.”
Meanwhile, Alban shared a very inspiring story on her financial struggle when she was young.
“I did not come from a rich family, but I also did not come from a poor family. I have experienced poverty. But as I have always been interested in money, after graduation I had a goal to improve my life, and since then I have been very focused,” Alban said.
For Marelid, she was challenged financially when her father became sick. With her father having no medical insurance, she maxed out her credit cards to support her father’s medical treatments. For her, “you cannot say no to a dying man especially your father.”
The session also tackled some major misconceptions in handling finances.
For Alban, culturally, there are certain things that are super ingrained in how we live our lives in the Philippines that are becoming a bad cycle.
“One example is the dependence of parents on their children, like, pag may nagsasabing ‘pag-aaralin ko ‘yan para pagdating ng panahon may sususporta sakin.’ Supporting should not be obligatory, it should be something that is made as a choice. You should provide them tools, you should grow with them in understanding having financial literacy so they will grow with you and not depend on you,” she explained.
On the other hand, Marelid emphasized the negative effects of “emotional blackmailing.”
“Kunwari birthday ng inaanak mo, sasabihin nila magpadala ka naman. That is emotional blackmailing without you even realizing that you are sending money, which you could have saved for yourself,” she said.
Moreover, Eleazar reminded everyone that money does not grow on trees, and OFWs don’t just magically have lots of money to send back home.
“We need to break the cycle na akala ng mga tao sa Pinas eh pinupulot natin ang pera dito sa abroad. They convert the money that you earn in pesos, so ang laki, pero ‘di nila alam, we spend in dirhams here, we pay expenses in dirhams here. It’s for us na turuan natin sila. Matuto din tayong mag say no,” she stated.
Concluding the discussion, Dr. Karen Remo asked each of the speakers on how we can build our wealth.
Marelid said, “Come up with a goal. For what reason are you here for? Check on it all the time, because we get carried away with the lifestyle abroad.”
Meanwhile, Eleazar said that you should start investing and that you should know your capacity while investing.
“In investing, you need to know kung ano ung kaya mo. It can start from 500 dirhams a month or higher than that. Ako, real estate din ang sinimulan ko because for me it’s a safe investment. It depends kung ano ang kaya niyo, you have to re-evaluate your finances, ‘yung sarili niyo, that you can still live comfortably but you’re planning na for your retirement,” she explained.
And finally, Alban said that financial freedom is so intricate to the quality of life.
“For me financial freedom is to be able to enjoy, experience, and sustain a quality of life until it’s your dying years, and perhaps leave some legacy,” she said.
The recently concluded PPIE 2023 was held from May 12 to 13 at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Deira Creek, Dubai. It is the largest and longest-running property and investment exhibition in the Middle East and has gathered thousands of attendees from different emirates with a notable presence of high-level delegates from the Philippines and the UAE.
