For many overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), returning home can be bittersweet. While they get to return to their families and enjoy the fruits of their labor, it can be a daunting experience due to the loss of financial stability that they have come to rely on abroad.
To aid in this reintegration, the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) and GCash have launched “Buy Lokal, By OFWs”, on the GHub feature of GCash, a joint initiative aimed at helping OFWs transition back home by building sustainable livelihoods through entrepreneurship and digital support systems.
As part of this initiative, GCash opened a trade fair featuring products from the enterprises owned by OFW-turned-entrepreneurs.
Among the OFW-owned enterprises present at the fair are Deomare Consumer Goods Retailing, Desmond Farm, Cleode Health and Beauty, Lola Puring’s Food Products, Tingtano Enterprises, Sauce On Food House, EM-AR Handicrafts Trading, and Mhira Natural Soap and Cosmetics.
“This is very important because you can introduce your business more with the help of GCash and DMW. You can go anywhere, and that can really help our business.
We’re so grateful to be one of the participants here. We were able to really enhance our business,” Marilou Sioson, a former seawoman and owner of Sauce On Food House, said in an interview.
Echoing similar sentiments from fellow OFW entrepreneurs, Caroline de Ocampo, a former OFW in Taiwan and owner of Cleode Health and Beauty, also underscored how GCash has simplified business operations under the initiative.
“In all aspects, when you’re doing business, you won’t be lost. So, thank you to DMW, and especially to GCash, because of the transaction of what’s coming in, coming out, and things like that. You won’t need cash anymore, and the whole process is just much easier,” Ms. de Ocampo said.
Sharing a similar experience on market access challenges, another OFW entrepreneur highlighted how the initiative helps address one of the biggest hurdles faced by returning workers.
“It’s good because they can be exposed to the markets. Especially when you come home, when you come here, one of the first questions that you will encounter is where you will sell. That was actually our problem at the onset,” Christian Facun, a former OFW in Italy and owner of Tingtano Enterprises.
Building on this, other OFW entrepreneurs also reflected on how their overseas experience shaped their drive to pursue business ventures beyond their life abroad.
“There are a lot, like how to handle people. Based on my experience as an assistant chef and in handling a restaurant, I also saw how the chefs there used ingredients such as basil, and with my business, Filipinos can now buy them,” Mr. Facun said.
Ms. Sioson also shared a similar perspective, emphasizing how her experience as an OFW helped shape her long-term goals beyond working abroad.
“In a way, of course, being an OFW helped us because this is where you really need a budget for the family and for your business. But for us, our life is not just about being an OFW. We wanted to have something after this journey,” she added.
For Ms. de Ocampo, she pointed out how her overseas experience contributed to specific aspects of her business operations, particularly in packaging and product preparation.
“My experience in Taiwan helped me,” Ms. De Ocampo said. “I used to do packaging and labelling in Taiwan. So, in my product now, even if I’m not well-versed in business, at least the packaging side helped me.”
Empowered abroad and at home
DMW National Reintegration Center for OFWs Director Andrea Luisa Anolin highlighted the importance of the department’s partnership with GCash in expanding opportunities for returning workers, especially amid global and geopolitical tensions that may affect OFWs.
“The partnership that we have with GCash is very important to us at DMW, because it opens up new options for our OFWs who are returning to the Philippines… It opens up the reach of our goods, products, and those manufactured by our OFWs, basically to the whole world,” Ms. Anolin said.
The DMW representative also emphasized that reintegration goes beyond employment and includes empowering OFWs to succeed in business and life back home.
“Their story of life will not end when they return to the Philippines,” the official said. “Their dream will not only be possible when they are abroad, but it’s also possible when they return.”
Meanwhile, the finance superapp said the initiative is designed to guide OFWs from overseas employment into business ownership, helping them secure long-term income upon their return.
“Buy Lokal, By OFWs is a reintegration and entrepreneurship program that helps our OFWs to start and develop their own business. Especially when they go back to the Philippines, we also support locally made products,” said Julie Anne Abalos, Head of International Transfers at GCash.
She added that the initiative focuses on enabling OFWs to build sustainable enterprises, with GCash providing digital tools such as payment systems and access to its marketplace platform, GHub, to expand operations and market reach.
“In GCash, our role is to digitally enable OFW-owned businesses, from digital payments and financial services to a larger market reach, so they can easily operate and run their own business,” Ms. Abalos explained.
The GCash executive mentioned that support for OFWs begins even before they return home, through remittance and financial services available overseas, and continues through reintegration programs in the Philippines.
“While abroad, GCash supports them through secure digital payments and remittances via GCash overseas and their everyday financial services. They also continue to support through programmes like Buy Lokal By OFWs, helping them start businesses, manage their finances, and build sustainable livelihoods,” Ms. Abalos said.
The initiative shows a growing push to empower modern-day heroes by helping them build sustainable livelihoods at home. With continued support from both government and private sector partners, programs like this aim to turn returning workers into entrepreneurs who can contribute to long-term economic growth.
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