DMW opens global market for OFW products, boosts women-led enterprises

MANILA, March 26 ------ The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) has launched a global e-commerce platform to showcase products by overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) while simultaneously strengthening entrepreneurship training for women returnees, all in a bid to expand livelihood opportunities beyond overseas employment.

In a news release Wednesday, the DMW said the center of this initiative is the “Buy Lokal, By OFW” (BLBO), a platform powered by GCash and launched on Tuesday to allow OFW entrepreneurs to showcase and sell their products to customers in 145 countries through GHub. "In DMW, we want to expand the reach of businesses of OFWs to the global market by showcasing their products and business through digital platforms,” DMW National Reintegration Center for OFWs (NRCO) Director Andrea Luisa Anolin said during the launch in Taguig City.

OFW-entrepreneurs Christian Facun and his wife expressed gratitude to the DMW for the support, which he said provides a pathway to sustain livelihoods for OFWs like them here in the country. The Facun couple established an integrated farm in 2018 after working for 11 years in Italy, transforming their land into a diversified farm producing crops, livestock, poultry and fish. “Nagpapasalamat at masaya kami sa suporta sa aming mga negosyo na dahilan kung bakit nananatili na kami dito sa Pilipinas,” he said.

Coinciding with the rollout is the intensified training of 16 women OFW returnees in a National Business Bootcamp held on March 23-24 in Makati City. The women participants were hailed as winners of the LIKHAng Kababaihan 2026 Business Plan Competition held in February. The LIKHAng Kababaihan is designed for female OFW returnees, offering a platform not only to develop and showcase innovative business plans but also to receive seed capital and business mentorship.

The DMW said together with the “Balik Pinay, Balik Hanapbuhay Program,” LIKHAng Kababaihan forms part of the livelihood reintegration program for female OFWs, providing support for their economic reintegration, empowering and advancing women's rights. The training covered business registration, regulatory compliance, labor relations, financial management, and digital innovation, where participants were equipped with the technical know-how needed to scale up their enterprises. The program also introduced digital tools under the Digital-PINAS initiative in partnership with the International Labour Organization, with resource speakers from the Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Labor and Employment, Food and Drug Administration, and local Business Permits and Licensing Offices.

Source: pna.gov.ph