Persons with disabilities (PWDs) should have the same opportunities to manage their finances just like able-bodied individuals.

This was the subject of the webinar on financial literacy conducted by the National Council on Disability Affairs (NCDA) on Thursday for PWDs.

Rizalio Sanchez, NCDA information officer, said 99 PWDs participated in the online learning.

“We would like those persons with disabilities to have the same financial knowledge and skills like those without disabilities – to manage their money, create spending plans, effectively reduce debts, and use loans wisely,” Sanchez said.

Providing PWDs with financial education, he said, would help them achieve financial wellness.

Sanchez noted that low-income PWDs have difficulty accessing the financial advice they need despite their situations.

“There is a need for more empowering approaches when it comes to supporting people with disabilities who need help to manage their finances,” he added.

The NCDA, in partnership with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and Maybank Foundation, Inc., has been pushing for a financial literacy project since 2017, particularly for vulnerable sectors, such as PWDs and indigents.

Maybank Foundation is promoting its Reach Independence and Sustainable Entrepreneurship (RISE) program that aims to help PWDs and other marginalized communities to grow their income and become financially independent through intensive training, focused coaching, and long-term mentoring.

Through the RISE program, participants undergo various training on practical entrepreneurship and effective mentoring with focus on income improvement, as well as building mentor-mentee relationships.

NCDA executive director Emerito Rojas, a PWD himself, said financial literacy training provides a huge contribution to their community, particularly to those hit hard by the pandemic, and ensures success in businesses or any entrepreneurial activities.

Rojas said the NCDA is committed to pushing more responsive programs, policies, and policies for the PWD sector.

Abigail del Rosario, president/CEO of Maybank Foundation, said the RISE program is a unique economic empowerment effort that targets “to provide real and tangible support” to the disadvantaged communities.

Its key features include quick income increase, sustainable income increase, no loans required, and work for existing or new entrepreneurs.

It builds financial inclusion and intelligence among PWDs and the marginalized sector.

The program has already trained about 11,813 individuals from Malaysia (2014), Indonesia (2016), the Philippines (2017), and Laos (2019), enabling the participants to become financially included.

Of the total number of participants in the four Southeast Asian countries, 9,511 or 80 percent were PWDs.

About 70 percent of them became self-sufficient and can now support themselves. (PNA)