Rhona Mae Quijano from Carcar City, Cebu, is one of the beneficiaries of the Department of Migrant Workers’ “Balik Pinay, Balik Hanapbuhay” program. (Photo from Rhona Mae Quijano)
Rhona Mae Quijano, 30, from Brgy. Valencia, Carcar City in Cebu started working for a royal family in Abu Dhabi in September 2021.
Working abroad was a difficult choice for her as she had to leave behind her husband and 13-year old daughter. She also left behind her online “ukay-ukay” store, which she started in 2019 where she sold second-hand apparel. Rhona asked her sister-in-law to handle this business while she worked abroad.
Suffering from homesickness, her life in Abu Dhabi was made more stressful when she started experiencing verbal abuse from her manager, an Indian national.
“Mentally, akong emotion that time is dili pa strong, kanang singka-singkahan ka sa manager in front sa mga kauban. If dili ka singkahan, tulisokon paka if naa kay sayop sa trabahaho,” said Rhona.
(I was not mentally strong enough to deal with how the manager treated me. He would demean me in front of other staff and sometimes insult me if I make mistakes.)
Unable to take the verbal abuse any longer, Rhona decided to go back home after six months of being an OFW.
“After six months ni uli ko, kay dili na jud ko happy mentally and physically, nag-breakdown ko didto,” she confessed.
(I returned home after six months because I was no longer happy. I suffered a mental breakdown there.)
Back in the Philippines, Rhona felt lost and unsure how to get back on her feet again. She only had a little savings left in the bank after working for only six months abroad.
The same year, she learned about the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) livelihood program, “Balik Pinay, Balik Hanapbuhay Program,” for distressed OFWs and applied for the livelihood grant.
DMW granted Rhona with P10,000 as livelihood assistance, which she used as additional capital for her online “ukay-ukay” business. With hard work and determination, Rhona started earning as much as P12,750 in a month.
Encouraged by the first wave of success of her online “ukay-ukay,” Rhona put up her second business, Zhenrique’s Homemade Banana Chips in August 2023.
From her banana chip sales, she now earns between P1,000 to P1,700 on a weekly basis.
“My business helped my family financially,” she said.
Distressed OFWs
The “Balik Pinay, Balik Hanapbuhay Program” (BPBH) was first implemented to facilitate the reintegration of female OFWs and assist their families in achieving financial stability through training, investment, savings, and entrepreneurship programs.
However, in 2013, the program was amended through Executive Order 333 to expand its coverage not only for female OFW returnees but also for female OFWs who are still outside the country but intend to come back to the Philippines.
“Dili lang sya para sa mga female OFW returnees but gi-cover pud katong tua pa sa gawas nga gustong mouli,” explained DMW7 Regional Director Maria Eloida O. Cantona.
(It is not only for female OFW returnees, but it now also covers those who are still outside the country and want to come back.)
Cantona said the program focuses particularly on distressed female OFWs.
“Since it’s ‘Balik Pinay,’ women gyud ang beneficiaries… We focus more on female returnees who, at the same time, naka-encounter sila ug bati. Mga distressed bitaw nga workers,” she said.
(The program is specifically for women. We focus more on female OFW returnees who have experienced abuse abroad. These are workers in distress.)
The livelihood assistance provided under BPBH aims to reduce the women’s socio-economic vulnerability by expanding their employment opportunity.
“It is more about economic assistance for women OFWs. This includes skills training and, later, a livelihood kit,” said Cantona.
DMW7 is set to hold a payout of BPBP financial assistance on March 17 in line with the celebration of Women’s Month. (ZCL/PIA7)
