Overseas Filipino Workers Can Loan Up To 2 Million Pesos Payable in 7 Years

Filipino Migrant workers in Hongkong

The Macau Daily Times recently reported that Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) working in area are now eligible to borrow from 300,000 Pesos up to 2 million Pesos with a fixed interest rate of 7.5 percent per annum. This program is a joint effort of the Department of Labor and Employement (DOLE), the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) and the Land Bank of the Philippines. This special loan program is open to all migrant and overseas Filipinos legally working abroad.

Eligibility rules require the applicant to have a net monthly income of no less than 10,000 Pesos and has made at least one contribution to OWWA. Approved applicants have seven years to pay the loan.

Source: Macau Daily Times

Photo by dying_of_the_light at Flickr.com

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Introducing Globe Muzta! for Overseas and Migrant Filipinos

Globe recently launched Globe Muzta!, a new service that’s designed to allow the overseas and migrant Filipino to call and send text messages to family and friends in the Philippines using nominal rates. Much like the common features of Skype, YM and Chikka, PC-to-PC audio and video calls are free as well as PC-to-PC instant messaging or chat. However, calls made to any Philippine mobile or landline number costs P6.50/minute while SMS or text messages sent to any Philippine mobile or landline number is P1.00 each.

This new service also allows Globe and Touch Mobile subscribers to contact your PC through a virtual 817 number assigned to you, at local Philippine rates. There are no registration or monthly fees. You only need to pay for the calls and text-messages you make which is by loading credits to your prepaid account. To load, you can use your credit card, international autoload Max (IAMAX), prepaid call cards and e-PINs. Load expiry ranges from 45 to 120 days, depending on the amount of load, i.e. P100 at 45 days, P500 at 120 days.

You will get to keep your 817 virtual number as long as your account is active. For prepaid accounts, your account will expire if you do not top-up within the required period.

You will need the following minimum requirements:

• A PC running with at least a Pentium 3 processor at 650 MHz
• At least 256 MB RAM
• 200 MB free Hard Disk Space
• Audio support (microphone and speakers or headset)
• A webcam if you plan to use the video calling feature
• Windows XP Service Pack 2

Globe Muzta! works with Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7. The application to download is about 22 Mb in size.

Source: Globe Muzta!

More Than Half-a-million Overseas Filipinos Start Voting Today

Photo by junsabayton at Flickr.com

More than half-a-million Filipinos living and working overseas started voting yesterday until May 10 at a little less than a hundred Philippine Embassies and Consulate Offices around the world. Only Hong Kong and Singapore will use the automated poll system.

Overseas Absentee Voting or OAV started at 8:00AM yesterday, April 10, at every embassy and consulate office and ends 6:00PM daily until May 10. There are a little less than 150,000 opting for postal voting while the rest are expected to personally appear for voting.

Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) Saving More

Photo by mang M at Flickr.com

Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas (Central Bank of the Philippines) says half of OFW families are saving more money remitted to them, rising 50 percent more than usual, while remittances allocated to investments decreased.

There are approximately 11 million Filipinos working in other countries or 11 percent of the population of the Philippines. In January, remittances from overseas Filipinos amounted to $1.4 billion, posting a year-on-year growth of 8.5 percent.

Read more at Manila Bulletin

Pinoy “Farmville” for Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW)

Maharlika Agro-Ventures Corp., a domestic poultry firm and contract grower for San Miguel Foods, Inc., has established a new company — North Star Poultry Equities, Inc. — for a “virtual poultry farming” project. North Star Poultry would be co-owned by overseas Filipino workers (OFWs). An overseas worker can invest at least P50,000 on the virtual poultry farm. Investors can monitor how their poultry operation is doing through a Web site that would be created specifically for the project.

Read more at Business World Online

Pag-IBIG Overseas Program for Overseas, Migrant or Naturalized Filipino

The Pag-IBIG Overseas Program (POP) is a voluntary savings program which aims to provide Filipino overseas contract workers, immigrants and naturalized citizens the opportunity to save for their future and the chance to avail of a housing loan of as much as two million Pesos. Membership under the Pag-IBIG Overseas Program (POP) shall be open to all Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) with valid visas or employment contracts. Likewise, it shall be open to Filipino immigrants and to Filipinos naturalized in other countries.

Click here to read more at the “Pinoy Around the World” blog.

Is Working Abroad as an OFW Worth It?

Was working abroad for a quarter of a century worth it? The story in this abs-cbnnews.com article is from the book “Migrants’ Stories, Migrants’ Voices 1″ published by the Philippine Migrants Rights Watch (PMRW). The book contains a collection of 12 stories of the realities of migration as experienced by overseas Filipino workers and their families. abs-cbnNEWS.com obtained permission from PMRW to publish the stories online. The essay speaks of the triumphs and perils of working abroad, in this case, the Middle East.

Click here to read the article at ABS-CBN Online News.

5-10 Filipina Maids Fleeing Sponsors Everyday

There are currently around 176 runaway housemaids being housed at the embassy’s Filipino Workers Resource Center (FWRC) in Kuwait, where an average of 5 to 10 Filipina housemaids are fleeing their sponsors everyday. The OFW cite non-payment of salaries, verbal abuse and sexual harassment as reasons for fleeing. Some of these Filipinas will return home, while others will stay and have their work visas transferred to other sponsors.

Click here to read the KuwaitiTimes.com story.

Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) Social Networking Site

MabuhayCity.com is a social networking and forum community for the Overseas Filipino Workers or OFW. This site is owned and operated by Philippine actress and celebrity, Klaudia Koronel (really!) From Middle East, Asia Pacific, North America, Europe and Africa, members share experience about visa and immigration, working and living abroad, job opportunities, nursing education, investment and entrepreneurship, pictures, music and videos, etc. You can even hook up with Facebook and Twitter inside this community.

Click here to go to MabuhayCity.com.

OFW and Remittances

The National Statistics Office (NSO) revealed that the number of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) rose 14.6% to 2 million last year from 1.7 million in 2007; 94% of these were overseas contract workers (OCW).  Of the OCWs, 32% of them were laborers or unskilled workers. Half of the OFWs originated from Metro Manila and its surrounding provinces. 1 out of 5 OFWs work in Saudi Arabia.

Total remittance sent by OFWs rose 30% to P142 billion from P109 billion. 76% were done through banks and 12% through door-to-door services. OFWs working in Asia sent the biggest cash remittance of P70 million.

Click here to read the Business World Online article.

RCBC Bank Courts OFW

The Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) recently came out with their new program intended for the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW). Called the “Dollar Dragon Savings Account,” this bank account allows OFWs to earn through a higher interest rate and allows easys access to their cash with unlimited withdrawals and no service fees tied to it.