The Overseas Filipino Bank (OFB) will open its doors to the public in January next year, Department of Labor and Employment Secretary Silvestre Bello III said Thursday.
The OFB was created to assist overseas Filipino workers (OFW) with remittances and other financial concerns, according to Executive Order No. 44 signed by President Rodrigo Duterte in September.
Bello added that three OFWs may possibly be seated in the Board of Directors originally consisting of nine members which will give OFWs a chance to represent themselves in the bank’s affairs, should the government decide to use the money allotted to an OFW rebate program for the OFB instead.
“So instead of … giving it individually to our OFWs, we are thinking of using this amount to buy into the OF Bank, to entitle the OFWs to at least three board seats,” CNN Philippines quoted Bello as saying.
