Women OFWs in Malaysia. Screengrab from INQUIRER.net video
Returning women OFWs may finally settle back home without the need to look for another job overseas, thanks to a partnership between the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and a beverage company to reintegrate the migrant workers into the country’s economy.
“We provide a package of services and mechanisms to facilitate the productive return of overseas Filipino workers,” said Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz of the Women REACH program, which stands for Women Entrepreneurs Reintegrated and Economically Active At Home.
The joint project, conceived by DOLE and Coca-Cola Philippines as a public-private partnership, assists women beneficiaries in sustaining their businesses by providing them with basic entrepreneurship training and facilitating their access to business resources and mentoring support.
In a statement, Baldoz expressed optimism the program will support the reverse migration advocacy of the government, especially of vulnerable OFWs.
“This program partnership is targeted toward our returning women OFWs, especially our domestic workers and caregivers,” she said.
“The program (will) equip them with the right support to build their entrepreneurial confidence so they can establish or enhance their own micro-enterprises and eliminate the need for them to go to abroad again,” Baldoz said.
Diego Granizo, president and general manager of Coca-Cola Philippines, cited studies that showed how women, when given the opportunity to earn, can become powerful agents in breaking the poverty cycle in communities.
“When you invest in women and empower them economically, they tend to reinvest their income in family, education and nurturing children,” he said.
Like OFW Lenita de Guzman, a 36-year-old widow returning home from Malaysia, women entrepreneurs can receive start-up capital to improve their micro ventures.
Under the program, DOLE will profile and identify beneficiaries and organize them for orientation and training sessions.