Financial literacy through IMG

It was my second trip to Manila nine months since my kidney transplant. I was invited to Manila for the weekend to join the International Marketing Group's (IMG) 15-year celebration and their Annual Convention of Champions dubbed "Unstoppable" at the SMX Convention Center. Of course joining the IMG Convention meant that I would never miss the opportunity to do TV interviews on my talkshow on Straight from the Sky. After all, IMG is the parent company of MyTV.

For six years I had always wanted to interview the big three of IMG, Dr. Joen delas Peñas, Eng. Bart Borja, and Engr. Noel Arandila, and finally I had this opportunity to interview them last Friday evening at the Solaire Casino Hotel, one of the venues of the IMG convention. I also had the opportunity to interview the Ozone Therapy International at the Kaiser Medical Center and the Green Jackets of IMG at the SMX Convention Center.

Three years ago, I attended the IMG convention held also at the SMX where I saw some 3,000 participants attending. However this weekend, I was totally surprised that their numbers had grown by leaps and bounds. During the gala night last Sunday, we saw nearly 10,000 delegates for the IMG convention. Just think, I don't think we have a venue in Cebu City that could fit 10,000 delegates, except perhaps the International Eucharistic Center. This is why Cebu needs to have the SMX built as soon as possible.

During the IMG convention weekend, Delas Peñas with Borja and Arandila held their individual talks with the IMG delegates. Their goal is to educate a million Filipinos on Financial Literacy by the Year 2020; and they believe that this goal is even achievable before their target year. Indeed a great majority of the lucky Filipinos who have jobs are content with their employment. But like most of us, we are known as spenders rather than savers and IMG wants us to change this attitude. This is why one of the mottos of IMG is, "Financial independence is a decision not a dream!" Financial Literacy is something you can't learn in school!

The IMG Vision is "To Build a new Financial Industry, where everyone is able to earn what the wealthy are earning by bringing the secrets of the wealthy to all. The International Marketing Group aspires to become the forefront among the companies of its kind today. To further drive the right business concepts, services, and product not just to the affluent people but to the middle-income individuals as well."

I could be wrong, but I have not seen a company determined to educate Filipinos on Financial Literacy except for IMG. This is perhaps the reason why IMG has grown by leaps and bounds. In my interviews with successful IMG CEOs, I noticed a pattern and many commonalities. There was Mrs. Shirley San Miguel, a housewife who did not even graduate from high school, but because her husband's income wasn't enough for their daily sustenance, she joined IMG and ended up becoming a top IMG CEO. She was awarded last Sunday night at the IMG SMX Convention.

Then there's the story of Benj Santiago, who worked with a big corporation and his wife too worked in a large corporation. So they were better off than Shirley the housewife. But their company shut down and they could not live on half the income of the other spouse. Thankfully, a neighbor invited them to join an IMG workshop and they decided to join IMG and how their life had changed for the better. The gala night of IMG at the SMX Convention Center had delegates wearing formal wear, men in suits and women in long gowns. But in truth, I didn't recognize any of these delegates because they were not celebrities but ordinary Filipino folk who have become empowered to make their money work for them.

This is why the concept of IMG in the Financial Industry is to help assist people who want to help themselves in building their own financial foundation. Something I learned from my interview with Dr. delas Peñas is IMG's willingness to share their knowledge, which is uncommon in the business world, where business secrets are supposed to make their business competitive. But IMG is totally different!

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