DAVAO CITY – A Canada-based Filipino entrepreneur has launched an online membership platform that offers benefits, privileges, and savings to all Filipinos residing in North America.
JOCELYN Alabata-Hansen (second from left) with colleagues. (Photo via Keith Bacongco)
A native of Koronadal City, South Cotabato, Jocelyn Alabata-Hansen put up TheFilipinoHero.com as a mission-driven endeavor in a bid to elevate the lives of Filipinos abroad through exclusive, better negotiated pricing on goods and services.
Hansen said her project is a tribute to sacrifices and challenges that Overseas Filipino Workers go through.
“Many Filipinos abroad work tirelessly, often juggling multiple jobs, to support their families in the Philippines. To honor their dedication and optimize the value of their hard-earned income, we’ve created a platform in collaboration with top-tier corporations. This platform empowers and celebrates our modern-day heroes,” she said during a recent visit to this city.
Through an annual $30 (about P1,700) membership fee, OFWs can enjoy perks and savings on electronics, hotels worldwide and flights, gym and spas, student loans, and credit counselling.
Among the salient features of the platform under Hero Benefits are affordable portfolio of healthcare benefits such 80 percent discount on prescription drugs, cost-effective lab exams, and telemedicine services that offer Filipino language translation.
“I am very excited about this service because some of older Filipinos may have difficulty in describing their health concerns in English,” Hansen said.
OFWs contributed approximately $34 billion in 2022 to the Philippine economy, according to reports.
Hansen said that she had witnessed the sacrifices of Filipino health workers at the height of pandemic.
“They made personal sacrifices for the greater good of their community abroad despite of fear their children back home would lose a mother. Their courage, their selflessness, their love – these are the hallmarks of true heroism.”
Hansen was a former staff of Congress and an executive assistant of a lawmaker.
From 2004 to 2012, she ran an employment agency in Hong Kong and that gave her a deeper glimpse of the sacrifices of the Filipinos just to make it abroad.
Every month, Hansen said, the special offers vary.
Thus, in time for the OFW month, Hansen said her firm is offering a variety of perks to the Filipinos abroad.
Among the special offers this December are discounts on hotels, flights, theme park, and health benefits.
“Overseas Filipinos are the backbone of their families back home, from financial to moral support. Some Filipino mothers overseas would stay up late after work to make sure their kids have not missed a school homework or make sure they’ve checked-in with their children every day,” she added.
Hansen said that OFWs deserve to be celebrated through benefits and perks while abroad as they are the nation’s modern day heroes.