PHILCOMDEV

How do we bring our overseas kababayans closer to home?

Early this year, Philcomdev and selected members, Atikha, Inafi-Phils. , PRRM and Philsen, embarked on a new project to link overseas Filipinos closer to the Philippines, the EKOLIFE initiative.  The project aims to help OFs touch base with local development stakeholders and be abreast of community innovations in migration and development, while enjoying the beautiful scenes and historical sights of the homeland.

For this project, Philcomdev will be offering ecotours in eleven (11) sites including: Ifugao, Metro Manila, Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Marinduque, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Albay, Bohol, and Camiguin.  The tours will combine sightseeing, adventure, and sampling of the local cuisine and culture, with community immersion and interaction, and exposure to environment-friendly and fair trade social enterprises. 

To prepare various stakeholders, Atikha sponsored a forum to discuss the links between ecotourism and migration and development last February 23 at the OFW Center in San Pablo City, Laguna.  This was followed by a seminar-workshop on tour-guiding and home stay on February 24 at the same venue.  Before this, lead participants in the forum and seminar-workshop sampled the ecotours being prepared by Atikha in Batangas and Laguna.

A unique feature of the tours being developed by Atikha in Batangas and Laguna, by Philcomdev in Metro Manila, and by the local government of Maribojoc, Bohol, is the enhanced participation of OFW families.  Meanwhile, in the other long-standing tours of PRRM in the rest of the areas, the participation of communities of farmers, fisherfolks and women, has already been embedded.  PRRM has pioneered its ecodev tours since the late 1980s and their rich experience provides a firm base for the Ekolife initiative.

Those interested in the ecotours can course their inquiries to the Philcomdev secretariat by calling (632) 4147826 and emailing  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .  A website is still being developed for EKOLIFE.