More than half million overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) stranded in Metro Manila due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic have been assisted by the government's "Hatid-Tulong" program in returning to their home provinces. (JANSEN ROMERO / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN) In a statement on...
If you are a returning Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) and has concerns and issues quarantine procedures, the Philippine Coast Guard could certainly help you. This, as the PCG opened to public the One Stop Shop Monitoring and Action Center (OSSMAC) that will be operational for 24 hours. The PCG said...
Anthony “AG” Gonzales and Kristine del Rosario-Gonzales did more than what was expected of them as parents—all for their daughter Agatha who joined their school’s beauty pageant online. As a result of their unwavering support, the nine-year-old grade four student of Veritas Catholic School...
Many Filipino households have been severely affected by the effects of the COVID-19 health crisis. The Pagkaliwagan family from Lucena City, Quezon Province is familiar with this situation. When the pandemic started affecting their livelihood, Jaquilyn Pagkaliwagan, 33, a former OFW in Taiwan, and...
The pandemic-affected cash remittances fell by 0.8 percent year-on-year to $29.903 billion in 2020 from $30.133 billion which was lower than what the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) estimated was a two percent contraction for the year. “Despite the global slump due to the pandemic,...
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said bank-transferred remittances from overseas Filipinos as of end-October reached $24.633 billion, down 0.9 percent year-on-year form $24.858 billion. The BSP said the “cumulative contraction” in remittances has narrowed from the previous 1.4 percent in...
Love and passion are the two things that spurred Ramona M. Pastor, owner of HN Organic Farm, to fully devote her time to farming after working in various fields abroad for over 10 years. It was in 2017 when Pastor decided to end her overseas employment in Singapore due to an eye injury and to...
Growing up, Lodi Carbonilla, agripreneur and proprietor of King David Integrated Farm (KDIF), was accustomed to living around coconut plantations in Southern Leyte. After 10 years of working as an overseas Filipino worker in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Carbonilla decided to return to his...
Coca-Cola Beverages Philippines, Inc. (CCBPI)—the bottling arm of Coca-Cola in the country—has expanded its Balik Pinas program to national scale to reach more repatriated overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and help them start their own business at home. Gareth McGeown, CCBPI President and CEO....
FAITH ON THE GROUND Noel R., 33, a construction worker who lost his job, on Plaza Miranda imploring the Black Nazarene’s mercy. (Ali Vicoy) Your employer? No, he’s disappeared. Malacañang ? A senator, your congressman? Your mayor and barangay captain? No—he can’t even get a bus ride...
