Philippine travel: OFW vs Balikbayan vs non-OFW, what’s the difference?

WHAT AN OFW MEANS: The term Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) refers to Filipinos who temporarily live and work abroad, often on a contractual basis. The operational word Is “temporary”. The original term is OCW — overseas contract worker. By definition, a Filipino who has a job contract overseas and is registered with Philippine authorities is a bona-fide OFW. If there’s no job contract, he or she is considered a non-resident Filipino citizen, with a separate set of rights and privileges.

LANDBASED, SEA-BASED OFW AND FAMILY MEMBERS: In general, there are two OFW categories: (a) land-based and (b) seafarers/sea-based OFWs. Families traveling together with at least one OFW will be considered all OFWs. Photo shows the cruise line Pride of America in Honolulu. Tens of thousands of Filipinos work as crew of these ocean-going luxury ships.

CONTRACT DURATION: The timeframe of a work contract ranges from a few months, like seafarers and cruise liner workers, to annual contracts, i.e. skilled workers, domestic workers. The term OFW also includes those who are on unlimited-period work contracts. A legalistic definition of an OFW is someone who is registered with the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), an agency under the Department of Labor and Employment.

PRIVILEGES FOR OFWS? One is exemption from travel tax. But this is contingent on obtaining an Overseas Employment Certificate (OEC, available online) under the Balik-Manggagawa program. OWWA is both an insurance and welfare arm rolled into one. A bona-fide OFW must may $25 for an OWWA coverage, which is good for up to two years. Photo shows repatriated OFWs.

OFW BENEFITS IN THE TIME OF COVID: For repatriated OFWs, the OWWA benefits include: [a] Airport assistance; [b] Temporary shelter; [c] Free COVID-19 testing; [d] Psycho-social counseling [e]; Stress debriefing; [f] Transport services for travel back to the OFWs' home provinces. Regular benefits include medical/healthcare, disability and death benefits. A scene at the Manila Airport (Ninoy Aquino International).

DEATH BENEFITS UP TO $4,000: Among the OFW benefits from OWWA include up to Php 50,000 ($1,000) for disability and dismembermen. In case of total permanent disability, a member is entitled Php 100,000.00 ($2,000). A member is also entitled to a benefit of Php100,000 for the duration of his employment contract for death due to natural cause, and Php 200,000.00 for death due to accident ($4,000). And OFW is also entitled to a Php20,000 burial benefit ($400), provided as a rider in case of the member’s death.

CONTINUING EDUCATION: OWWA runs several programs for OFWs that cover education, welfare, scholarships of OFWs and their immediate families. A “Tuloy-Aral Project (TAP) (“continuation of education”), for example, is an educational assistance project that targets aid for the less-fortunate children of former OFWs to enable them to continue their elementary and high school education by providing a US$100 financial support per year to the child-beneficiary. Donors may be OFWs or their organisations and other interested individuals or groups.

Members of OWWA who fail to renew membership after 2 years will not be able to avail of Php100,000 ($2,000) for accident-related injuries and their families won't be able to avail of Ph220,000 in death benefits $4,400).

WHAT ARE THE SIGNS OF AN OFW? On the ground, some tell-tale signs include a mariner’s wheel on the gate of his house, a logo of KSA (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia), or a jeepney (passenger vehicle) emblazoned with “Katas ng Saudi” (fruit of labour in the Kingdom). Most high-rise condominiums also count OFWs among their top buyers.

DRIVER OF CONSUMPTION: There’s also the neighbourhood “sari-sari” (variety) store or tricycle (rickshaw) put together with dole from a relative working overseas to provide some livelihood for loved ones left behind. There’s also the half-finished houses, waiting for the next remittance, or housing loan release from Pag-Ibig Fund (Home Mutual Development Fund). Another typical sign of OFW life: boxes full of goodies sent home. Photo shows repatriated OFWs.

OFWS DISPLACED BY COVID: According to latest data provided by the Philippines’ Department of Labour and Employment (DOLE), nearly 648,000 were OFWs displaced by COVID so far. Out of that figure, some 520,000 OFWs had been sent back to their hometowns through a massive repatriation drive that’s still on-going. There are about 50,000 more due for repatriation while 78,000 opted to stay behind, despite having lost their jobs overseas, according to Secretary Silvestre Bello III, the Philippine labour minister.

OFW REMITTANCES POWER THE ECONOMY: In 2020, cash sent by Filipinos working and living abroad reached $29.9 billion, a better-than-expected 0.8-% drop despite the knock-on effects of COVID (from the $30.1 billion recorded in 2019). Morgan Stanley projects OFW remittances to jump 7% in 2021, amidst an expected recover from COVID, assuming most of the world would get vaccinated. File photo.

HOW MANY OFWs AND HOW MANY FILIPINOS ARE OVERSEAS?: Latest DOLE data (as of June 2020) show that there are about 9 million Filipinos living and working overseas. There are about 3.5 million "documented” OFWs, and another 1.58 million “undocumented” ones, according to the latest DOLE data. Meanwhile, there are an estimated 3.8 million Filipino that have permanently migrated overseas.

WHAT IS AN ‘OVERSEAS FILIPINO’?: Unlike OFWs, overseas Filipinos (OFs) are those with permanent resident status or have acquired another citizenship. Signs of OFs’ at home include names people listed as donors and written on school buildings (with their geolocation, for example, Milan, Italy, or LA, California, USA).

WHAT IS A 'BALIKBAYAN', IS IT REALLY A MISNOMER? The “balik” (Filipino term, meaning back/return) in “balikbayan” literally means “homecoming” or "return to town" (bayan in generic Filipino term for town/country). But it’s a bit of a misnomer. Most Filipino “balikbayans” are simply visiting for the holidays or on a short vacation. Only a small number do return home for good, or to retire. Many have bought and built homes in the Philippines. Those homes are occupied by relatives, or lay empty, for most parts of the year.

‘BALIKBAYAN PROGRAM’: To be eligible under this program, one has to be either one of the following: (a) A Filipino citizen who has been continuously out of the country for a period of at least one (1) year; (b) A Filipino overseas worker; (c) A former Filipino citizen and his family who had been naturalised in a foreign country and comes or returns to the Philippines. It also covers immediate family members (spouse and children) of the Balikbayan, who are nationals of countries falling under EO 408, travelling together with the Balikbayan.


WHO IS A NON-OFW? Non-OFWs refer to returning overseas Filipinos (i.e. non-OFW students, non-OFW Balikbayan, non-OFW tourist, etc.), spouse and children of Filipinos who live overseas.

WHAT ARE THE PRIVILEGES OF A BALIKBAYAN? According to the Philippines’ Bureau of Immigration (BI), those who are admitted as Balikbayans are given an initial stay of one year. They may extend their stay for up to six (6) more months, provided they present a valid passport and filled out the visa extension form and submit it to the Visa Extension Section in any BI office nationwide. An additional requirement will be asked for Balikbayans who have stayed in the Philippines after thirty six (36) months.

FOREIGNER SPOUSE AND CHILD OF A BALIKBAYAN: For a foreigner spouse or child of a Balikbayan to avail this privilege, a foreign national spouse and/or child of a Balikbayan may only be given the said privilege if he/she is traveling with his/her Balikbayan spouse or parent, espcially during the COVID travel restrictions.

QUARANTINE PROTOCOLS: Current COVID-19 protocol mandates a 14-day quarantine for travellers flying into the Philippines. OFWs must stay at least 6-days in a government designated quarantine hotel, with COVID-19 PCR test done on Day 6. Upon testing negative (result out on Day 7 or 8), travellers from overseas are mandated to complete a 14-day quarantine or self-isolation under the monitoring of the local government unit (LGU) and Barangay (local village) Health Emergency Response Teams (BHERT). It’s best to check with your airline for any changes in quarantine rules.

HOME QUARANTINE: Upon testing negative (result out on Day 7 or 8), travellers from overseas are mandated to complete a 14-day quarantine or self-isolation under the monitoring of the local government unit LGU and Barangay Health Emergency Response Teams (BHERT). It’s best to check with your airline for any changes in quarantine rules.