PEBA, Inc.: Cynthia Villar

Showing posts with label Cynthia Villar. Show all posts

Saturday, December 15, 2012

Christmas: OFWs homecoming

By Mira Delle, PEBA-Bahrain

Posted at 12/15/2012 9:28 AM | Updated as of 12/15/2012 9:28 AM

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/global-filipino/12/15/12/christmas-ofws-homecoming

In the Philippines, celebrating Christmas is considered as the longest and the merriest season of all. It starts in September and lasts until January 6 to honor the Three Kings of Bethlehem. It is also the favorite time of homecoming for all Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs). Those joyous moments of being with family, relatives and friends are unforgettable for most OFWs who only get to spend a month or two in the Philippines after years of perseverance, determination and hardwork in another country. This season is always a time of great anticipation.

Every 18th of December 18 is commemorated as the International Migrants Day, a global observance to recognize the contributions, efforts and rights of migrants worldwide. It is hailed by United Nations as the fundamental freedom of every migrant worker. Thus, we can aptly say that December can be called an OFW Month.

It is but timely that we at the Pinoy Expats/OFW Blog Awards (PEBA) also give our homecoming Bagong Bayani or heroes a warmhearted welcome celebration to recognize and honor their talents and exemplary work. And let the whole world know about their creative talents in the field of blogging and photography.

This year’s event is dubbed as, "Sama-Samang Saya at Parangal sa mga OFW at kanilang Pamilya , Pamaskong Handog ng SSS at PEBA” which will be held on Saturday, 15th of December 2012 at 1:30pm at the RM Hall, SSS Main Building, East Avenue, Quezon City. There will be entertainment like music and dance extravaganza. In this event, winners of the 2012 International Blog and Photo Awards will be announced. There are 17 blog nominees for OFWS and Supporters categories and 32 photo entries coming from 11 countries competing. The photo contest is in partnership with the Social Security System or (SSS). Other PEBA sponsors include the Villar Foundation and SMART. PEBA is also grateful from its long time partner organizations who advocate OFWs welfare and rights like the Blas Ople Center and Patnubay Riyadh.

PEBA, with the help of the many selfless volunteers around the world will continue to recognize the talents of the millions of OFWs abroad. For the OFWs nothing beats the joy of coming back to the country to be with loved ones, but if their endless sacrifices and struggles will be heard and given honor, surely their stay is even worth remembering.

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Thursday, November 15, 2012

Villar Foundation & GoNegosyo All Set for the 2nd OFW & Family Summit

Yearly summit to provide OFWs and families with business ideas and livelihood opportunities

After the successful ‘1st OFW & Family Summit 2011: Kabuhayan Para sa Kinabukasan’ that attracted over 5,000 participants, the Villar Foundation and GoNegosyo will hold the ‘2nd OFW & Family Summit 2012: Hanep Na Ang Buhay Dahil May Hanap Buhay’ for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and their families at the World Trade Center in Pasay City, from 7am to 4pm.

“We have seen how the first OFW summit has helped many of our OFWs and their relatives, so we will keep on doing this. Many of them have applied what they have learned from the talks they listened to, by putting up small businesses such as food stalls or venturing into franchising and direct selling among others,” said Cynthia Villar, Managing Director of the Villar Foundation.

The summit is focused on OFWs and their families, thus every aspect of the event—from the program to the exhibitors, is customized to cater to their interests, requirements and concerns.

Various speakers and Villar herself (as keynote speaker) will provide OFWs and other attendees with insights and tips on entrepreneurship, from the basics of starting a business and to financing. Topics include: spotting business opportunities, financial literacy and presentation on other opportunities such as in franchising, direct selling, real estate salesmanship, product consignments, distributorship etc.

Exhibit stalls and booths would feature different businesses, companies and organizations which will showcase their products, services, business offerings among others, that can give OFWs and their families ideas or examples on where to invest their hard-earned money.

According to Villar, providing OFWs and families with needed business know-how can help them better handle their money. “We want OFWs and their families to have an entrepreneurial mindset, so they can invest their earnings or the remittances they get into profitable endeavors. We want them to have success stories, not sob stories that we often hear from distressed OFWs.”

OFWs-turned-entrepreneurs are also invited to inspire the audience with their testimonials.

Like last year, one of the main highlights of the event is the raffle prizes. The Villar Foundation will again raffle off a Camella house and lot. GoNegosyo will give away food cart business packages. Livelihood or ‘kabuhayan’ packages such as Aling Puring sari-sari store items of Puregold, motorcycles from Motortrade, Kettle Korn franchises, among many more.

The Villar Foundation, through its Sagip OFW program, has been extending various forms of support and assistance to OFWs and their families including repatriation, livelihood packages, medical/burial assistance, scholarships and skills-up trainings.

“We in the foundation through Sagip OFW wants to be there for OFWs, from rescuing them to abusive employers, repatriating them and reintegrating them as productive members of the society. We have a soft spot for OFWs because our first client in our housing business was an OFW family. This will be a life-long advocacy for us,” cited Villar.

Corporate sponsors of the 2nd OFW and Family Summit include Vista Land, Camella Homes, Smart, Isuzu Motors, Motortrade, Kettle Food Corp., Avon and PLDT SME Nation. Institutional partners are Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Overseas Workers’ Welfare Administration (OWWA), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), National Reintegration Center for OFWs (NRCO) and Blas Ople Policy Center.

Media partners of the event are GMA, TV 5, Philippine Star, Manila Bulletin, Business Mirror, People’s Journal, Abante, 96.3 EasyRock, Crossover 105.1, Tiger 22 Media Corp. (103.5 Wow FM, Magic 89.9, 99.5RT, Killer Bee, Wave 89.1, Jam 88.3), Love Radio, and DZRH.###

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Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Villar Foundation Marks 20th Anniversary

For almost 2 decades, Villar Foundation has been known for their works and initiative that promote, protect and provide assistance especially to distressed migrant workers. The foundation has evolved from just simply providing free tickets to OFWs who would like to come back home after suffering from their abusive employers or providing medical help and assistance to OFWs in need. For the foundation these palliative measures are not enough since they are temporary and will not solve the problem for which most Filipinos seek work abroad.

In celebration of its 20^th year the Villar Foundation highlights its achievement as a proactive partner of OFWs in providing alternative solutions to their desire to have a source of livelihood. To date, the foundation is engaged in different entrepreneurial activities that generate jobs. And laudable of their effort also is their emphasis of protecting the environment as well. The foundation is now engaged in maximizing abundant water lilies, transforming them to beautiful woven household crafts and decors and putting into use coco nets to prevent soil erosion. These are just some of the works of the foundation that benefits both former OFWs and the Filipino citizens in general.

Last July 11, 2012, at Max’s Restaurant at Star Mall Shaw Blvd., Cynthia Villar, Managing Director of the Villar Foundation met with seven OFW beneficiaries to commemorate its 20 years of serving OFWs through its Sagip-OFW program. The foundation extended livelihood grants or grocery packages from Puregold for the beneficiaries to start their sari-sari store business.

The lady director cited, “ We are aware that it is not enough to repatriate distressed OFWs, we need to help them get reintegrated as productive members of the society.” Also, in an open forum, when asked about her position with the PHILHEALTH issue being raised by PEBA and Global OFW Voices, she was quoted saying “OFW should be an exception to PHILHEALTH because of their work abroad. It will be difficult for them to claim and avail their benefits. Also, most of them are already covered by their company’s health insurance. I will definitely help pursue and make laws that will benefit OFWs.”

The Sagip OFW program of the foundation extends various forms of support and assistance to OFWs: repatriation, medical, livelihood, skills-up training, scholarships among others. In November, it will again stage the OFW & Family Summit, which provides livelihood and business opportunities to OFWs and their families. Over 5000 attended the summit in 2011. The event is held in partnership with GoNegosyo.

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