OFW loans: the government options and who can use them

The government loan routes OFWs ask about:

• OFW-EDLP, from OWWA with LANDBANK: a business loan for OWWA members who finish OWWA’s entrepreneurship training and have a business plan.
• SSS salary loan: a short-term cash loan for SSS members, land-based OFWs included, with enough posted contributions.
• Pag-IBIG Multi-Purpose Loan (MPL): a short-term cash loan for Pag-IBIG members with at least 12 monthly savings.

Pag-IBIG also lends for housing. None of these is open to everyone: each depends on your membership and your record with the agency.

Side by side

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Figures from each agency, as stated on the checked date:

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Sources: the SSS salary loan page (Circular 2025-004), Pag-IBIG’s MPL application form (version 10, May 2025), and OWWA’s and LANDBANK’s OFW-EDLP pages. Rates can change. Check the agency’s page before you apply.

OWWA and LANDBANK business loan (OFW-EDLP)

The OFW Enterprise Development and Loan Program, formerly the OFW Reintegration Program, is OWWA’s loan facility with the Land Bank of the Philippines. OWWA’s Citizen’s Charter 2026 says it helps OFWs and their families set up businesses that give them a steady income.

What OWWA asks for:

1. a completed application form,
2. a certification from OWWA that you are a bona fide OWWA member and an eligible borrower,
3. a certification from the OWWA Regional Welfare Office that you, or the person acting for you, completed the Enhanced Entrepreneurial Development Training (EEDT), and
4. a business proposal or plan.

OWWA then endorses your application to LANDBANK, which lends the money with an OWWA guarantee. The terms OWWA and LANDBANK publish:

• Amount. “Loanable amount per borrower is Php100,000.00 up to a maximum of Php2M for individual loan borrowers and up to a maximum of Php5M for group loan.”
• Interest. “A 7.5% interest rate per annum is fixed for the duration of the loan.”
• When to apply. “Within 3 years from the date of arrival to the Philippines”, after the training.
• What it is for. Working capital or fixed assets for the business (LANDBANK).
• Security. A land title, condominium certificate of title or tax declaration, or “any loan security acceptable to the bank” (LANDBANK).

Neither page gives a repayment term. Ask the reintegration unit of your OWWA Regional Welfare Office, or LANDBANK at ofwrp@landbank.com.

OWWA also gives members who come home repatriated, displaced or in distress a cash grant to start a livelihood, called Balik Pinas, Balik Hanapbuhay. It is help you do not repay: PHP 20,000 for active members, PHP 10,000 for inactive members with more than one contribution and PHP 5,000 for those with one (OWWA Citizen’s Charter 2026, item 10). More in our guide to OWWA reintegration. OWWA’s other cash help for members is in OWWA benefits.

SSS and Pag-IBIG loans for members abroad

SSS salary loan. The SSS salary loan page says land-based OFW members can apply. You need 36 posted monthly contributions, 6 of them in the last 12 months, for a one-month loan; 72 for a two-month loan. Land-based OFWs also need 6 posted contributions under their current membership type. You apply through your My.SSS account. See SSS loans for OFWs for the steps.

Pag-IBIG Multi-Purpose Loan. Pag-IBIG’s application form says you need at least 12 monthly savings, and you can borrow up to 90% of your total accumulated value, less any short-term loan you still owe. OFWs repay over the counter or by other channels Pag-IBIG approves. Pag-IBIG’s online loan routes are described for members whose employer confirms the application, so if you pay your own contributions as an OFW, check with Pag-IBIG whether you can apply online. See the Pag-IBIG Multi-Purpose Loan guide. For a home, see the Pag-IBIG housing loan for OFWs.

Both loans depend on your contributions being up to date. Keeping SSS and Pag-IBIG paid while you are abroad keeps these options open. Our SSS guide for OFWs and Pag-IBIG guide explain how.

Before you borrow anywhere else

If you borrow from a private lender or a lending app, check it first:

• Is it registered? The Lending Company Regulation Act (RA 9474) says: “No lending company shall conduct business unless granted an authority to operate by the SEC.” The SEC publishes a list of lending companies and a list of recorded online lending platforms. If a lender or its app is not on them, ask the SEC before you sign.
• How does it collect? SEC Memorandum Circular No. 18, s. 2019 bans unfair debt collection by lending and financing companies. Among the practices it lists: threats or violence; threats of action that cannot legally be taken; obscene or insulting language; publishing the names and details of borrowers who have not paid; false information about the loan; contacting you before 6 am or after 10 pm, unless the account is more than 15 days past due or you consented to those times in writing, electronically or on a recording; and contacting people in your phone’s contact list other than your named guarantors or co-makers, even if you agreed to it.

Breaking these rules can lead to fines, or suspension or revocation of the company’s authority to operate, under the circular. We do not name or recommend any lender. If a lender treats you this way, you can report it to the SEC.