04/09/2026
For many Overseas Filipino Workers, coming home is more than simply returning to the Philippines. ๐๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ข ๐ซ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ธ ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ด๐ค๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข ๐ฅ๐ช๐ง๐ง๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฑ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ.
For ๐๐ฌ. ๐๐๐ซ๐ฒ ๐๐๐ ๐. ๐๐๐ซ๐๐ณ๐จ, her journey from working in Hong Kong to becoming a Teacher I at Upo Elementary School in Maitum, Sarangani Province is a story of resilience, perseverance, and a second chance.
After returning home from Hong Kong, Mary Mae took a leap of faith by joining ๐๐๐๐๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ข๐ก๐๐ง ๐๐๐๐ of DMW Region XII. Her courage and determination paid off as she was named the Regional Winner, giving her the opportunity to represent SOCCSKSARGEN Region on the national stage. What began as a simple decision to step forward became a meaningful milestone in her journey as a returning OFW.
Despite falling short in the competition, Mary Mae remained committed and even more determined to pursue her dreams not only for herself but also to create a ripple of positive change in the lives of others.
๐๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ถ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐บ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ข ๐๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ด, ๐๐ฌ๐ข๐ธ ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ ๐๐ข'๐ข๐ฎ ๐ข๐ต ๐๐ช๐ณ (๐๐๐๐๐) ๐๐ณ๐ฐ๐จ๐ณ๐ข๐ฎ, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ค๐ฉ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ท๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐๐๐ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐ถ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ง๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ณ๐ช๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ด๐ฌ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ค๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ด๐บ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ฎ.
Through SPIMS, Mary Mae was given the opportunity to return to the classroom to be an educator serving Filipino children in her own community. ๐๐ค๐๐๐ฎ, ๐จ๐๐ ๐ฅ๐ง๐ค๐ช๐๐ก๐ฎ ๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ฃ๐๐จ ๐๐จ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ง ๐ ๐๐ฉ ๐๐ฅ๐ค ๐๐ก๐๐ข๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐๐ง๐ฎ ๐๐๐๐ค๐ค๐ก ๐๐ฃ ๐๐๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ข, ๐๐๐ง๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ง๐ค๐ซ๐๐ฃ๐๐.
Her journey is a reminder that coming home does not mean the end of an OFW's story. Sometimes, it marks the beginning of a new chapter.
From working abroad in Hong Kong, to rebuilding her life at home, and now shaping young minds in the classroom, Mary Mayโs story reflects the resilience of returning OFWs and the possibilities that await when their skills, experiences, and dreams are given another opportunity to flourish.
Her journey came full circleโfrom leaving home to work abroad, to coming home to teach, inspire, and serve her fellow Filipinos.
Through programs like SPIMS, the skills and experiences gained by OFWs abroad can become valuable contributions to communities back home.
๐๐ค๐ง ๐๐๐ง๐ฎ ๐๐๐, ๐๐ค๐ข๐ ๐๐จ ๐ฃ๐ค ๐ก๐ค๐ฃ๐๐๐ง ๐จ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ก๐ฎ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ง๐ ๐จ๐๐ ๐ง๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ง๐ฃ๐๐. ๐๐ฉ ๐๐จ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ง๐ ๐จ๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ช๐ฃ๐ ๐ ๐ฃ๐๐ฌ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ง๐ฅ๐ค๐จ๐.