Six Overseas Filipino Workers returnees affected by the COVID-19 pandemic from the Cordillera Administrative Region received livelihood assistance from the DOST's Innovations for Filipinos Working Distantly from the Philippines (iFWD PH) program.

The recipients come from Abra, Mountain Province with one each while two each in Benguet and Ifugao.

During the iFWD virtual c ceremony on July 30, 2021, DOST-CAR Regional Director Nancy Bantog congratulated the OFW returnees enrolled in the program while assuring them support.

"We will continue to work hard—and work together—to advance the entrepreneurial initiatives of our modern-day heroes," she said.

Bantog said that iFWD provides opportunities for OFW returnees to be mainstreamed in the economic machinery of the government through technology-based enterprises in different sectors such as the food processing, furniture, gifts, houseware and décor, agriculture, marine and aquatic resources, metals and engineering, health and pharmaceutical products, ICT and electronics and S&T Consultancy Services.

Having completed the Phase 1 (capability-building), where the firms were guided on how to establish and maintain their business, the 28 graduates will now be provided the innovation-Enabling Fund (iFund) for entrepreneurship. This is Phase 2 of the program that includes the provision of technical training, product development and market testing, operational consultancy services, packaging and labeling design and equipment acquisition. Likewise, the DOST's e-commerce OneSTore hub, will also be tapped to promote and sell their products online. (Christian Robert M. Sandoval)