FinTalks x SLSU: Bold Perspectives to Advance Financial Literacy in the Philippines

Wazzup Pilipinas!

1500 attendees. 10 speakers. 5 series. 1 event. This is FinTalks x SLSU - a series of major seminars organized by fourth year students of BSBA - Financial Management in Southern Luzon State University, Lucban, Quezon in cooperation with SLSU Junior Financial Executives.

#1: Kita Kita: A New Way to See Credit and Collection

The first of the five installments of FinTalks x SLSU was held last March 2, 2016 at SLSU CAM Auditorium. Current College of Business Administration Student Council Governor Ms. Lineth Cruzat served as the motivational speaker. Cruzat in her speech reiterated the importance of believing in oneself. She added, "...naniniwala ako na yung iba sa atin ay nahihiya lang. Yun yung gusto ko na mapag-aralan natin na wag ka matakot mag voice out, wag ka matakot mag share na yung sa palagay mo dapat mong i-share kasi walang mawawala. Makakatulong ka pa..."

Another speaker is Mr. Carlo Magno Sabater who discussed the brief history and the benefits brought by the credit and collection in our economy. He also inspired the attendees to take the risks because the power of change can be found within us. 

#2: Breaking Through Traditions: Harnessing Innovation for Inclusive Finance

The second installment aimed in highlighting the role of Millenials in promoting financial inclusion was held last March 16, 2018 at SLSU Covered Court. The activity was also attended by external participants from selected senior high schools in Quezon province.

One of the speakers is Ms. Joy Anne Pasumbal, who in her early age of 20 was already an entrepreneur and a trader. She discussed the different personal and financial challenges students are facing nowadays and provided tips on how we can overcome those challenges.

Another speaker is Mr. Cesar Augusto Villanueva, who works in the Inclusive Finance Advocacy Office of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. He said that "financial inclusion is a good policy objective." Villanueva in his speech encouraged the attendees to help the BSP in promoting financial inclusion through the use of technology. He also presented the different financial inclusion initiatives conducted by the BSP that are benefiting the Filipinos today.

Join us.

The other series of FinTalks x SLSU will be held on March 26 and April 13 (wholeday). Join us as we make bold perspectives to advance financial literacy in the Philippines. Because we believe that when you go outside the four side of the classroom, your knowledge about our industry matters. For more information visit our official social media accounts at www.facebook.com/slsujfinex and www.twitter.com/jfinexslsu #FinTalks 

FinTalks x SLSU would like to thank the official Media Partners: astig.PH, Wazzup Pilipinas, Psst.PH, Creativoices Production, Voice of the Youth Online, NegoSentro, World Executive Digest, MoneySense and FranchisingPH.

SLSU JFINEX is a proud member of Junior Confederation of Finance Associations - Philippines and a proud student organization affiliate of CFA Society Philippines. 

Understanding and Treating the Gambling While Visiting UK Cheltenham Festival

Wazzup Pilipinas!

If you are anywhere in the UK during the month of March, you would have definitely heard of the Cheltenham Festival. The Cheltenham Festival is the place to go if you wish to experience the best in-class racing from all over the world. 

The joy of watching fine bred horses with their rippling muscles, being led to the finish line by their jockeys in a nail biting race will give you goosebumps. The other attractions the Shopping Village, the Guinness Village, the Hall of Fame, and the AP McCoy Wall to name a few. However, the core identity of the Cheltenham’s Festival remains racing and of course, betting.

If horse racing is an age-old tradition then so is betting on such races. If you are trying to understand the gambling culture around the Cheltenham Festival, you have come to the right place. Here’s how you can get started:

Check Your Wares

Checking out what you are signing up for is the first rule for anything and everything. While the online methods of betting could sound alluring, nothing beats the actual experience of observing and judging the horses during the parade ring. Notice the coordination between the jockey and the horse. Pick what you feel has the greatest chance of winning and then check out the odds of that horse winning the race. Note down the number of the horse.

Placing Bets

Interestingly, Cheltenham offers many ways to place your bets. However, if you still wish to place your bets online, you can always check out some of the best betting websites for Cheltenham Festival.

Once you have placed your bet, you shall receive a receipt containing the details of your bet. Always check and tally the details, if in case there is a mistake in your receipt, bring it to the bookmakers notice.

Types of Bets

There are two types of bets:

·         Win Only: When you are positively sure that your horse will win, you can place a Win Only bet.

·        Each Way: An Each Way bet is double betting, one bet is on the horse that you think will win, and the other for the placement of the bet. So the money you put at stake is basically paid in double.

After the Race

If you have won, all you need to do is produce your ticket to the bookmaker to claim your settlement. If the result was not in your favor, you should still remember to keep the ticket safe. Do not destroy your ticket until the weighed in announcement has been declared. It may be possible that the winning horse could be disqualified or a Stewards’ Enquiry could be invoked. And who knows, in the process, lady luck may have shined on you!

So, now you have a better understanding of gambling and how to place bets at the Cheltenham Festival. Win or lose, the gambling experience will definitely stick by you forever. Just remember to make a calculated decision and be always aware that betting is good way to earn extra cash, but also can be addictive. So, If you want to be rewarded for your prudence, be sure not to miss full experience of Cheltenham Festival. Good luck!

Ticao Island: Tourists’ One Model to Depict (or Define) What an Exotic Tourist Destination Is

Wazzup Pilipinas!

From my conversations with foreign traveller-vacationers in the Philippines, most of them assert that they do not prefer checking in in luxury hotels, plush amenities, and five-star accommodations. What they crave instead are exotic places where calm and quiet blend with modern lifestyle.

I asked them what they exactly mean since it is understandable that once you book a travel package, the agent will naturally house you into somehow pricey bed and board. So, to drive their point, they pointed to my place, Ticao Island, as a model for that exotic that they mean. How is this so?

Well, in Ticao, you can find superb hotel-resorts. Some of these hotel-resorts are the only structures standing out in a village where they are located. One good example, Ticao Island Resort, is structured splendidly in a village called Tacdugan wherein those houses surrounding it are commonplace ones dwelt in by village folks who usually subsist on fishing as their source of livelihood.

Another is Altamar Resort just a few kilometres away from Tacdugan. It is an amenity whose concrete facilities are similar in design to those hotels in Metro Manila or urban cities. What makes it unique is that it is in a very quiet rural expanse; no hustle-bustle like those in urban places, no sound of heavy machines, no coming and going of roaring vehicles, no fuzz of busy people like those in the downtowns; just the peace of the serene rustic touch, or of the synonyms—rural, countryside, bucolic and idyllic.

So, these tourists refer to the Metropolitan luxuries that they no longer prefer. Ticao, according to them, is exotic in the sense that you stay here in an atmosphere of rural culture combined with modern living. In the downtown of San Jacinto, Ticao’s most progressive of four towns, you can avail yourself of facilities, amenities and commodities that the modern lifestyle can provide. There are also hotels down there, other cozy lodging houses and restaurants.

Much contrary to the old impression that lifestyle in an island is outmoded and behind the times (Oh! I hate this impression!), the lifestyle in Ticao is avant-garde and trailblazing. People here are mold in innovative and forward-looking culture.

Every day, Ticao is frequented by foreign and local tourists. Foreign tourists come from races such as English, Chinese, Germans, French, Koreans, Japanese and Americans, etc. When foreign vacationers in the Philippines arrange a tour package, most, if not all, travel agents always include Ticao as a journey point. Mr. and Mrs. Chris Fleckney, a couple from England, showed to me their itinerary folder listing their arranged destinations which include Palawan, Boracay and of course Ticao. Tourists come to Ticao for Manta Ray, for diving.

Most of the foreign tourists I came to have a conversation with affirmed that they came to know about Ticao by word of mouth from their fellowmen who have come here, bragging to them about their encounter of the island. Ticao, really, is getting famous around the world.

The next day November 14, after my photo-shooting tour of Ticao Island Resort and having had a good conversation with the English tourist couple Fleckney, I scooted to Batuan, Masbate, one-hour travel from San Jacinto. Inside Yuson Hotel and Beach Resort, I chanced upon a seminar being conducted by the Department of Tourism Region V (Bicol) in collaboration with the local government of Batuan. I didn’t have the idea there was that seminar. I asked permission to listen. Incidentally, some of the facilitators are known to me personally and professionally. Having shown and established my credentials as a writer, I was then invited to join the congratulatory panel during the awarding ceremony and to join the picture taking for posterity and advertisement.

It is obvious tourism in Ticao is really giving itself a bigger and bigger shot! Just look how the Department of Tourism is so much fixated on!

Written by Remigio Espares III