2 former OFWs find jobs as voice over talents amid pandemic

Two former Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) decided to become voice over talents amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

According to Mariz Umali's report for "24 Oras," Richard Abalos had served as an assistant kitchen manager in New Zealand since 2015.

He decided to return home before the pandemic hit to help his mother with her Airbnb business in Tagaytay. With the strict travel restrictions due to the threat of COVID-19, however, his financial situation became dire.

"There's no income entering. Talagang deplete deplete deplete 'yung ipon ko," he said.

Richard was able to bounce back using his voice talent. He can do impressions of President Rodrigo Duterte, Mike Enriquez, and even Dragon Ball Z characters Krillin and Master Pogi.

He said he could earn between P3,000 and over P100,000 depending on the project.

Faith Pastrana, meanwhile, shared that she lost her job as a production manager in Singapore.

She said she needed to get a work pass as a foreigner in the country, but she was rejected three times.

"I think the reason is because the country was cutting the number of foreign workers," she said. "It was scary. Actually what happened to me was it was very abrupt."

Faith said she was afraid of going back to the Philippines with no more means of income.

Eventually, she decided to pursue one of her childhood dreams: voice acting.

With nothing else to do amid the community quarantine, she joined an online voice-over company.

"One thing about voice acting is you can do it everywhere," she said.—MGP, GMA News