OFW noon, business owner ngayon! Coca-Cola and partners helping change lives of repatriated Filipinos

Manelene Gernale Handig spent thousands of kilometers away from her family for 12 years as the breadwinner. As a hotel receptionist in Dubai, she worked for hours on end to provide for her loved ones in Bulan, Sorsogon province.

In 2020, however, Manelene was one of the over 800,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) forced to return home and restart their lives due to the grave economic impact of the health crisis. For the first time in decades, she found herself without a lifeline.