Cash aid now part of OWWA package for OFWs who want to set up business



Cash assistance will now be part of the "enhanced" livelihood program for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who want to come home for good and set up their own business.
From non-cash support via free entrepreneurial training and provision of a 'starter kit' to roll-out the OFW's business, the package of assistance will now consist of P20,000 cash, including entrepreneurship development training, according to the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA).
The enhancement of the livelihood program, dubbed "Balik Pinas! Balik Hanapbuhay!" or BPBH, was approved by the OWWA Board of Trustees chaired by Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III.
"The essence of BPBH is to teach OFWs to be their 'own bosses' hence teach them the value of 'self-reliance' and,  eventually, 'self-esteem'," said OWWA Administrator Hans Leo Cacdac in a statement.
Aside from the aforementioned services, OWWA also offers additional assistance to its member-beneficiaries by referring potential marketing  linkages and partnering with other government institutions such as the Department of Trade and Industry  and the Department of Agriculture.
This will help the OFW learn the ropes in technical aspects as well as  techniques in   marketing  strategies to sustain the  livelihood project, OWWA said.
"Since the businesses  will be their own, they should be able to sustain the 'interest' to make it as their  means of  livelihood thus making  the most out of the  revolving capital," Cacdac said.
Target beneficiaries of the program are:
  • returning OWWA members;
  • active or non-active members who were displaced by hostilities or wars/political conflicts, policy reforms or changes by host governments;
  • victims of illegal recruitment or human trafficking;
  • distressed wards at the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Resource Centers who are due for repatriation; and
  • OWWA-members who were employed by foreign employers which are beset with financial difficulties due to economic conditions such as the  construction and maintenance companies in Saudi Arabia.  

"Hopefully, they are able to  change  their  own transformation from being OFWs,  into entrepreneurs," said Cacdac. —KBK, GMA News

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PCG: China’s bullying in West Philippine Sea undermines international law --- Ghio Ong - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — Letting China sustain its aggression in the West Philippine Sea would make other countries doubt the strength of international law currently being asserted by the Philippines, Commodore Jay Tarriela of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said. “Allowing China to blatantly disregard the established rules-based order threatens the very foundation that we all depend on,” he wrote in a post on X last Tuesday. He added, “If we permit this, countries worldwide may forget why this order was created in the first place. Nations could begin to doubt the significance of adhering to international law if powerful bullies can easily violate it.” Tarriela also said defiance of other countries to a rules-based order would result in the prevalence of cruelty. He wrote, “This could lead us back to a time when might makes right, undermining the global structures that keep human greed, savagery and barbarism in check. Such a scenario would not only invite challenges from aggressive ...
Read more

China ships maintain presence in key West Philippine Sea areas --- Michael Punongbayan - The Philippine Star

STAR / Michael Varcas MANILA, Philippines — While Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) have decreased in number, they have maintained a presence in three key land features where naval and coast guard ships have intensified operations in the past seven days, according to the Philippine Navy. Latest monitoring by the Philippine Navy showed armed ships of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) maintaining a menacing presence around the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, Panatag Shoal and Escoda Shoal. According to the Philippine Navy, there are 17 Chinese military vessels and 28 China Coast Guard (CCG) boats spotted inside the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between Sept. 23 and 30, or one vessel more than in the previous week Sept.17-23. Five of the warships were seen roaming around the vicinity of Escoda Shoal, along with 10 CCG vessels and 12 maritime militia vessels (MMVs). There are also two PLAN ships in Ayungin Shoal as well as 10 CCG boats and 12...
Read more

Social media seen as cause of rising intermarriages --- Helen Flores - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) sees social media as the main reason for the rising number of Filipinos marrying or becoming partners of foreign nationals. In 2022, the CFO recorded 6,854 marriages or partnerships with foreign nationals, a 40.1 percent increase from the 4,891 “intermarriages” recorded in 2021. “First of all, what we see in the increase in the marriage rate of Filipinos or Filipinos with foreign partners is because of social media, (that) is number one; matchings; letters, introduction of their friends,” CFO chairperson Romulo Arugay said at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing yesterday. Arugay said the agency has been registering a high number of intermarriages since 2007, but the figures went down during the COVID-19 pandemic. From over 6,500 Filipinos who married foreign nationals, only 600 are men, he said. Most of them are married to Americans, Japanese, Germans, Canadians and Australians, Arugay said. Arugay warned Fi...
Read more