Overseas Filipino Workers or OFWs are called modern-day heroes, contributing over 10 percent to the domestic economy through the remittances they send to their families here.

Last year, total remittances by overseas Filipinos reached a record-high $33.5 billion. Their personal sacrifice not only provided a better future for their family but also helped keep the Philippine economy robust through the years.

However, the global pandemic has affected many OFWs who have been forced to go home because they have lost job opportunities overseas. Thousands of land and sea-based Filipino workers have come home, facing a bleak and uncertain future with no clear means of supporting their families.

Building and supporting our OFWs dreams

With the mission of making Christmas a happy celebration for many “balikbayanis” like Junalyn Breguera, Coca-Cola has partnered with government agencies – Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) of the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE), Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), and the Philippine Trade Training Center (PTTC), an attached agency of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), to help these returning OFWs bounce back from the crisis by enabling them to rebuild their lives here.

Under the OFW Re-Integration through Skills and Entrepreneurship Program or OFW RISE, Coca-Cola and partner government agencies shall jointly develop and implement the program that focuses on the economic integration of OFW returnees, empowering them to become entrepreneurs. “Our balikbayanis’ coming home,” OWWA Administrator Hans Leo Cacdac said, “is an opportunity for them to recover from this year's crisis and to still continue fulfilling their dreams for their family.”

OFW RISE thus aims to empower 10,000 qualified balikbayanis through web-based training on basic entrepreneurship and business idea development. This is supported by practical business coaching as well as establishing linkages to livelihood assistance and other microfinancing programs.

Take for example the story of Junalyn Breguera, a mom who worked as a housekeeper in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Following an unpleasant, almost traumatic experience with her employer – leaving her gaunt and almost unrecognizable – she decided to come home immediately even without a concrete plan.

Breguera became more determined to make things and her dreams happen. “Ginawa ko talagang motivation ang pamilya ko, para may pangtustos ako sa anak ko, nanay ko at kapatid ko (I used my family as a motivation so I can have enough money for our everyday needs),” she said.

“Many families have had to spend their Christmases apart because one or both parents are working overseas. With OFW RISE, we hope to keep more families together this holiday season and beyond. By empowering them to be entrepreneurs, our balikbayanis can be our partners in building the economy with new enterprises that have been built through skills training and support,” Coca-Cola Philippines Public Affairs, Communications, and Sustainability Director Jonah de Lumen-Pernia said.  

Breguera – using the P20,000 loan that the program provided – set up her own business, selling fish, salad, and ice candy.

The training she received from the program, according to her, helped her a lot to succeed. “’Yung mga modules kung paano magnegosyo, paano tumubo ng maayos, malaking tulong talaga (The modules on how to run a business, how to earn properly, these were really a big help),” she said.

Enabling financial empowerment to more OFWs

A teacher from Davao del Sur is another success story of the OFW RISE Program. Rhoda Te tried her luck in The Netherlands in 2007 and was forced to leave her husband and two kids – then only nine and 1-years-old – to spend and work eight long years in a faraway European country.

“Noong una, mahirap. Siyempre ‘yung lamig at masyado rin akong na-homesick. Nakakapanibago talaga. Mabuti na lang andoon yung mga pinsan ko at natulungan ako (At first it was tough, I wasn’t used to the cold climate and I began to feel homesick. I really had to adjust but thankfully, my cousins were there to help me),” she said.

When she had saved enough to be able to acquire a house and some livestock in the Philippines, Rhoda decided to return home in 2015 to be with her family. Apart from teaching again, she thought of venturing into the agricultural supply business, which has benefited from the support of the Women REACH under the OFW RISE Program.

“Maliban sa financial support, naka-attend din ako ng mga seminars tungkol sa meat processing, financial literacy, at kung paanong mag-start ng negosyo (Aside from financial support, I was also able to attend seminars on meat processing, financial literacy, and how to start a business),” she said. While the pandemic has put a damper on her business, Rhoda remains hopeful that by next year, things will improve.

Providing tools and resources for OFWs to succeed

Positively looking towards building a better future, Marie Zepagan, an OFW who previously worked in Pakistan,  UAE, and Dubai, is now a Coca-Cola Community Reseller through the OFW RISE’s complementary project “Balik Pinas.”

After five years abroad, Zepagan felt it was time to come home for good. “Mahirap para sa isang nanay na mawalay sa anak (It’s hard for a mother to be separated from her children for very long),” she said.

It was then that she got word of the Balik Pinas project, which gave her the impetus to start her own business. The Balik Pinas project provides opportunities for returning overseas Filipinos to become part in the distribution and reselling of Coca-Cola.

“Kahit magsimula ng maliit, hopefully unti-unting mapapalaki mo din, basta tuloy-tuloy,” she said. “Malaking tulong talaga ‘yung binigay ng Coca-Cola at kahit papaano mapaglalabanan ang hirap dulot ng pandemic (You can start small and hopefully; you can make your business grow as long as you keep at it. The assistance that Coca-Cola provided has really been a big help. Somehow, I am able to survive this pandemic).”

Clearly, a common trait that these former OFWs share is that they have always kept the faith, that family has always been their priority, and that perseverance can truly go a long way – timeless wisdom from which we can all learn from. And as Christmas time approaches, each one of them realizes that hope does spring eternal, and that the future need not to be so bleak for many OFWs and their families.

And this message of hope is what OFW RISE aims to impart to returning overseas Pinoys.

With these OFW RISE program, Coca Cola and its partners can help more balikbayanis to start afresh and have a meaningful celebration at home, with a brighter future for their family in sight. For more information about OFW RISE, visit the facebook.com/ofwrise or contact Coca-Cola via [email protected] or 09772638213. Every balikbayani can also register to OFW RISE Program via https://cokeurl.com/ofwrise.