FOR overseas Filipino worker (OFW), Almedo 'Ed' Lopez, being alone in an unfamiliar place is challenging, but it's the only way for him to support his family back home. Earlier this year, Lopez was directly hired by a water bottling company in Fiji Islands. He was soon deployed on a one-year contract to work as a quality supervisor. Hopes were high for him in the beginning, but quickly changed after he encountered several misconducts from his employer.

On July 1, 2021, Lopez responded to a survey sent out by the Abizo OFW App, which he had installed on his phone. The Abizo OFW App is a digital monitoring system that forms part of the POEA's (Philippine Overseas Employment Agency) OFW Global Monitoring Pilot Project spearheaded by POEA Administrator Bernard Olalia. It aims to track the accurate number of OFWs at any given time, as well as monitor information on their deployment location, employers, and working and living conditions abroad.