There will come a time that an OFW may desire to just stay in the Philippines and not to work abroad anymore. Good news is, the government has programs under OWWA which can definitely help overseas workers earn a living while they choose to just stay in the country for good to be with their families and loved-ones.
For instance, a son named Lemuel dela Cruz of an OFW who hailed from Bacoor, Cavite had reached out to Inquirer Bandila to air his concern about his OFW mother working in Qatar.
According to him, his mother was working as an OFW for five years and had thoughts of not going back to her work after her scheduled vacation in the Philippines this December in time for Christmas Season. He and his siblings also expressed that they don’t want her to leave the country anymore. However, their mother wanted to make sure first if she can avail of a loan or any support from the government so she can start her own business to continuously be able to support her family financially before she finally decides to stay for good.
Bandera told Lemuel that OWWA had prepared various programs to OFWs who had finished contracts or those who would like to return home and opted to just have their own business as source of income through their Reintegration Program.
As such, under the Enhanced Entrepreneurial Development Training (EEDT), a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) had been made between OWWA and Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) where both agencies agreed to work hand in hand to train OFWs how to handle their own business through business planning, orientations and seminars.
OFWs who will successfully complete the training will be given the chance to avail of a loan starting from P100,000 up to P2 milllion under the OFW Enterprise Development and Loan Program (OFW-EDLP) working closely with Land Bank of the Philippines and Development Bank of the Philippines.
With OWWA’s programs, overseas workers can now consider returning home and staying for good to start their own business backed up with a support coming from the government and love and inspiration from their families who always hope and pray for their most-awaited comeback
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