DOLE urges Pinoys abroad: Try doing business in PHL

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz  on Thursday urged  Filipino migrant workers to try doing business in the Philippines as an alternative to working abroad.

Baldoz said the Department of Labor and Employment has a P2-billion fund for the reintergration of distressed Filipino workers.

“Returning OFWs, OFWs who had been displaced, or OFWs who had become victims of abuse should not be afraid to come home to the Philippines, particularly if they have idle farmlands. Their lands are a source of income security,” said Baldoz in a statement.

 “You should not be worried. You can develop your farms through organic farming, or start your own agribusiness and expand it with the assistance of the National Reintegration Center for OFWs through loan from the P2-billion national reintegration loan fund,” she added.

The OFW reintegration program — the Balik-Pinay, Balik-Hanapbuhay Program — provides loans ranging from a minimum P300,000 to a maximum of P2 million to OFWs interested in engaging in small business.

The loan has a maximum repayment period of seven years and a grace period of two years.

With an interest of 7.5 percent per year, the loan can be used for working capital or for the acquisition of fixed assets.

Aside from financial assistance, Baldoz said the DOLE will provide free business counseling, technical and marketing assistance, and skills training.

Pinoys in Hong Kong

Meanwhile, Baldoz noted that recently Philippine Labor Attache to Hongkong Manuel Roldan facilitated a meeting between Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala and Filipino workers in Hong Kong.

Dr. Rey Itchon of the Spread Organic in the Philippines (SOAP) taught the Filipino workers agribusiness skills that included organic farming and chicken and rabbit raising.

The seminar is part of the regular agricultural livelihood training conducted every Sunday at the Filipino Workers Resource Center in Hong Kong.
 
Roldan said Alcala expressed plans to hold similar skills training and seminar for Filipinos in other countries. - VVP, GMA News

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