JAAKARTA - The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration said returning overseas Filipino workers now have easier access to franchise businesses, low-interest loans and skills training, the Philippine News Agency reported on June 9.
The support is aimed at OFWs who have returned to the Philippines and need income options after overseas employment. OWWA’s Balik-Pinas! Balik-Hanapbuhay! Program, or BPBH, provides livelihood support for returning member-OFWs who want to start or expand a small business.
OWWA says the BPBH package includes PHP20,000 as start-up or additional capital for a livelihood project. It also includes entrepreneurship development training, marketing linkages and job referrals to help beneficiaries manage self-employment projects.
The loan track is separate from the BPBH grant. The Department of Trade and Industry and Small Business Corporation launched the PHP2-billion OFW Negosyo Fund on March 11, with applications starting on March 12. SBCorp said loan amounts range from PHP30,000 to PHP20 million, with repayment terms of up to five years and no collateral required for loans up to PHP5 million.
“Access to capital is often the biggest barrier during these uncertain transitions,” DTI Secretary Cristina Roque said when the fund was announced.
Central Visayas gives a recent measure of how reintegration support is being used. The Philippine Information Agency reported on May 14 that OWWA-7 released PHP13.015 million in livelihood grants to 678 beneficiaries in 2025. From January to April, it released PHP4.67 million to 322 beneficiaries in Cebu, Bohol, Negros Oriental and Siquijor.
The Central Visayas rollout also shows how the application process has changed there. PIA said new implementing guidelines issued on April 20 removed the previous site-inspection requirement. Applicants must now present a certification or referral from a migrant workers’ office abroad showing that they were distressed, displaced or had employment-related issues.
Applicants in Central Visayas must complete a one-day entrepreneurship development training before receiving the grant, unless they can show proof of an existing business. The regional office said livelihood proposals include sari-sari stores, general merchandise ventures, poultry and piggery projects, depending on the applicant’s location.
The Philippine Statistics Authority said in its latest survey release on December 16, 2025 that the country had an estimated 2.19 million OFWs in 2024. Asia accounted for 74.5 percent of their places of work, and total OFW remittances reached PHP262.20 billion.