Returning OFWs find hope in Balikabayanihan Program

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, we knew of the bittersweet stories of returning Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs). Often, they go abroad for high-paying jobs so that they can save and send money to their families back home. But migration stories don’t always guarantee a happy ending, and they need help when they are forced to return home.

“Dahil ang pagkakaakala ko ay ang pagiging OFW ang sagot sa lahat ng naging problemang financial namin at gusto kong maiahon ang aking pamilya at mapagtapos ang aking anak,” said returning OFW Marites Coronado. The journey, however, wasn’t simple. 

Take the case of another former OFW, Alma Palafox. She recounted: “Hindi po ako sini-suwerte sa napupuntahan na bansa. Laging may masamang nangyayari po sa akin. At minsan na rin muntik na akong hindi nakabalik ng Pinas ng buhay. Kaya hindi ko po natatapos kontrata ko.”

Gerlie Austria shares a similar experience but remains grateful despite the hardships she endured abroad. “Hindi man po ako naging maswerte sa ibang bansa, pero nagpapasalamat po ako sa Panginoong Diyos at ako po ay nakauwi nang buhay.”

Myrna Peñosa Corporal recalled the gloom she felt when she decided to go back to her family. “Noong nagsabi ako sa amo ko na ibalik na ako sa agency, dinala po nila ako sa Labor. Ang unang pumasok sa isip ko at naiyak ako, ‘Paano na ang pamilya ko? Uuwi ako na walang pera at naipon’,” said Corporal. 

Coronado, Palafox, Austria, and Corporal are among the OFWs who had to return home even if they haven’t achieved yet the financial goals they set for themselves. 

The Balikabayanihan campaign, a program supported by the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), seeks to help these OFWs whose dreams were interrupted for various reasons.

Spearheaded by NEDA-Philippine National Volunteer Service Coordinating Agency and Atikha — a non-government organization working with OFWs and their families to maximize the gains of working abroad — Balikabayanihan calls on the spirit of volunteerism of Filipinos to help returning OFWs. 

It is a call for partnership by the Overseas Filipino organizations with government agencies, local government units, and the private sector to help OFWs by providing the needed resources — manpower and funds or mobilizing their volunteer network to serve as mentors to the OFWs. 

Melanie Labera, a returning OFW whose plan to resume her work abroad was put on hold because of the COVID-19 pandemic, benefitted from the program. “Nang umuwi ako ng Pilipinas, nagkataon naman na pandemic. Gusto ko sana bumalik [abroad], pero di na ako makabalik. Kaya malaki ang pasasalamat ko sa programang ito, pati sa BPI. May konting puhunan naman ako sa aking tindahan, pero konti lang. Kaya nagpapasalamat ako na nadagdagan dahil sa inyo.”

For her part, Austria, also a program beneficiary, said, “Nang makabalik po ako sa Pilipinas, isa po ako sa maswerteng napili ng Atikha na mabigyan ng tulong upang ako’y makapagsimula ulit sa aking buhay. Naging masaya po ako at nagkaroon ng pag-asa sa buhay. Ngayon po ay natupad ang isa kong pangarap na makabili ng makina.”  

Financial empowerment 

As one of the program supporters, BPI aims to empower repatriated OFWs by helping them manage their finances through learning webinars and by mobilizing volunteers and sponsors. BPI implements their programs through its business units BPI Foundation, BPI-Philam, and Remittance and Fund Transfers. 

“This pandemic has been hard on everyone, but repatriated OFWs and their families have been particularly affected. OFWs have done so much to uplift our entire nation’s economy over the decades. It’s only right that we stand by them now and help them get back on their feet and establish a financially secure life for themselves and their families,” said Reggie Cariaso, BPI Head of Corporate Banking Strategy, Products, and Support.

“Napakaganda po ng aking karanasan dahil nagkaroon po ako ng pag-asa sa buhay at talagang ipinangako ko po sa aking sarili na pagbubutihin ko po itong tulong na ibinigay sa akin ng Atikha at BPI Pamana Padala. At ang nagustuhan ko po dito ay ang mga taong kasapi dito na maaayos ang pakikitungo at napakamapagkumbaba at napakababait upang matulungan kaming lahat,” said Coronado. 

BPI Foundation holds mentoring sessions for OFWs with BPI Unibankers as volunteer mentors. For its part, BPI Philam provides free COVID-19 insurance coverage worth P200,000. BPI’s Remittance and Fund Transfers offers financial grants and monthly mentoring sessions for chosen OFWs  and instills the value of saving using their BPI Pamana Padala account.

With opportunities such as the Balikabayanihan, returning OFWs are more empowered than ever to try their luck in their home country. 

Palafox said, “Dito nalang po ako sa Pinas. Kahit mahirap po basta’t sama-sama kami ng mga anak ko. Kaya nagpapasalamat kami sa Balikabayanihan at sa BPI. Ang tanging hinahangad ko po sa aking sarili ay mapaunlad ko ang munting negosyo at magkaroon pa ng maraming kaalaman.”

Corporal shared another insight: “Natutunan ko po sa Balikabayanihan na kailangan po tayong magtulungan para makabangon ulit sa hamon ng buhay.” 

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GOMO: A Game Changer For Technology

 

 

GOMO changes the game in connectivity.

 

Brings no-expiry and unlimited data deals for an awesome connectivity experience
     
Staying connected has been pretty high on our list of priorities nowadays. Most of us have shifted a lot of our work and play online. We now pay our bills, do shopping, and work from home, among many other activities. Given our current situation, we saw the power of connectivity to navigate the next normal. And we continuously see the growing dependence of Filipinos on this.

This is what GOMO, the latest fully digital brand in the country, is all about. Changing the game in connectivity, GOMO aims to provide simplicity and innovation to Filipinos with its three game-changers—a Fully Digital Experience, No Expiry Data, and ‘Mo Creds. In a nutshell, GOMO is making the whole telco experience brutally simple.

Eric Leif Tanbauco, Head of GOMO, explained that the digital brand was created specifically for today’s digital natives who utilize digital solutions in their work and play.  

"Reinventing our business model allowed GOMO to provide innovative industry firsts: an all-digital approach to telco, no expiry data, and even the ability to convert data to calls and texts,” he said.  

Fully digital, GOMO doesn’t have any physical stores or hotlines, which enabled them to minimize its operating costs. As an innovative brand, its experience is designed to be simple and convenient for its customers by giving them everything they need in a mobile app—from buying a SIM, purchasing promos and even aftersales.

“This is why GOMO doesn’t have any load or bills. We give our customers the things that matter most to them, and that is data. And it’s not just plain data. It is data that lives forever,” Tanbauco added.

AWESOME Deals

GOMO is 5G ready. Having its digitally-savvy customers in mind, the brand made sure that when it launched GOMO, its customers can already use the best connectivity, which is 5G. Recently, it upgraded its current offer to 30GB (from 25GB) with No Expiry, with the same price of P299.

GOMO also regularly does flash deals. Its ongoing 3.3 promotion offers UNLIMITED DATA for users, again simplifying their connectivity experience, so they have the freedom to access the internet without any restrictions.

To serve more Filipinos with its unlimited offerings, GOMO is extending its flash deals from March 8 to 10, to continue offering its UNLI promos: UNLIMITED DATA for 15 days for P299 and Unlimited Data for 30 days for P499.

“So far, we’re happy with the results of GOMO. We are able to attract the growing base of digitally savvy Filipinos and leverage on the consumer’s heightened need for digital tools,” said Tanbauco.

GOMO will also launch an exclusive offer in key cities of Visayas and Mindanao on March 15. A regional exclusive, GOMO customers in the region will be able to subscribe to UNLI DATA for 30 days for only P199.

AWESOME Hunt

GOMO is also about awesome experiences. In 2020, GOMO brought 88rising stars through its online concert. It also partnered with Shoor to bring exciting digital experiences to Filipinos. On March 8, GOMO will continue to bring these experiences to its customers with GOMO AWESOME hunt! Exclusive GOMO kits are up for grabs when GOMO customers join the hunt! Follow GOMO’s social media pages to know more.

Now on its sixth month, GOMO will continue to provide awesome experiences for its customers and expand its reach to more digitally-savvy Filipinos.

Follow GOMO on Facebook, Twitter @Gomo_PH to know more about the Awesome Hunt and for more flash deals and new promos! Learn more about GOMO and visit www.Gomo.ph

 

 

 

 

 

Effectiveness of Birth Control

Family planning is a necessity in our society today because of the fact that the earth’s resources are becoming less and less every year and in a study it is estimated that there would be 12 million infant births in 2025 alone. From 8 million in 2019 every year there is an increase of 1.004 million births.

Looking into these statistics the effectiveness of birth control as it relates the number of infant births per year is still pretty high. The campaign of different sectors of government has become more and more aggressive in the past few years targeting larger urban areas in big cities.

Even with the heightened awareness about the importance of family planning and birth control methods the effectiveness of the campaign still remains underwhelming in terms of results.

Some of the factors that may contribute to the lack of positive results of the campaign on birth control is the fact some people still are not aware of the different methods that are available to them. In the past it has been the problem for some government agencies to make people accept contraception because of the massive disagreement that Catholics showed saying that it is only God that can give and take people’s lives.

Of course these people are talking about abortion which in fact is not a form of contraception nor is it a form of family planning or birth control.

Abortion is in fact a crime in a lot of countries and most of the states of the US.

If people protests against birth control because they believe it is a form of abortion then that means they are under informed and that they are ignorant to the concept of Natural birth control. Because of the opposition that contraception received from moralists and religious orders, the concept of Natural birth control was introduced.

Though the confusion of the idea caused people not to believe in it at first, it has been regarded as more favorable by the anti-contraception groups.

Contraception methods are what we call artificial birth control. These methods include condoms (both male and female), hormonal method, birth control pills, Intrauterine device, ligation, spermicide (chemical only), spermicide with sponge, injections (Depo-Provera) and Vasectomy.

These are just some of the most common methods that include the use of different devices or chemicals to prevent sperms and egg cells from meeting.

Recently it was known that not only is birth control effective in planning the family but it also effective in preventing sexually transmitted diseases and other infection in people.

Because some of the devices used in birth control prevent contact of skin in the reproductive organs, the chances of catching the infection are minimized if not totally eliminated. So aside for the health department campaigning for married couples to plan their family for the future, young couples are also requested to use protection to prevent the spread of Sexually transmitted diseases and/or early pregnancy(that is also a big issue not only in the United States but all over the world).



The effectiveness of birth control methods greatly rely on the cooperation of people who are directly or indirectly affected by the issue. It may not be enough to just talk about it but more on acting upon it and getting the results that are badly needed by the country and the people of this planet.