LANAO del Sur 1st District Rep. Ziaur-Rahman Alonto Adiong is pushing for a measure integrating financial literacy and peace education in the K to 12 Basic Education curriculum.

In his House Bill 9786 or the proposed Financial Literary and Peace Education Act of 2024, Adiong stressed that Financial Literacy and Peace Education are essential, interdependent subjects of study.

The solon explained that the roots of conflicts that threaten a just and harmonious peace are often nourished by financial difficulties.

The bill cited a report by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, when Filipinos were surveyed on basic financial literacy questions, only 2 out of 10 were able to score perfectly on a 10-item test.

Meanwhile, the World Bank reports that only 25% of adult Filipinos are knowledgeable of basic financial literacy concepts.

Furthermore, Adiong said, the Philippines ranks 115 out of 163 countries in the 2023 Global Peace Index.

The proposed bill seeks to address this dearth of knowledge faced by Filipino youth by integrating financial literacy and peace education throughout the K to 12 Basic education curriculum.

“It is our fervent hope that through such a measure the youth, and by extension, the Filipino People are better prepared to contribute as productive and peaceful members of society,” the solon stressed.