Interview #3: Apa Ongpin

I just concluded a conversation with Mr. Apa Ongpin, the Executive Director of the Makati Business Club, and our discussion reinforced how closely financial literacy, financial inclusion, and poverty reduction are linked in the Philippines. Mr Ongpin framed poor financial literacy as both a consequence and amplifier of poverty: when people are living day to day, they rarely get the chance to learn how to manage money. Yet without those skills, it’s harder to build stability and move forward. We also discussed how the gap shows up in real life, from the low share of adults who are financially literate and formally saving or investing, to the deeper barriers that keep people outside the system in the first place, especially in rural communities.

A major theme was agriculture, where Mr Ongpin shared firsthand examples of why modernization has to include basic money management and information access. Many farmer cooperatives, he said, struggle with essentials like bookkeeping and tracking funds, and farmers are often disadvantaged by information gaps, particularly on pricing, because they lack reliable ways to verify what their produce is truly worth. He emphasized practical education: stronger math fundamentals, understanding how money changes in value over time, and being clear that money is a tool to reach defined goals. We also touched on inflation’s quiet impact on low-income households, and why building financial knowledge alongside stronger livelihoods is critical if we want more Filipinos to plan, save, invest wisely, and ultimately build real economic security.