The Bagong Bayani Awards (BBA) is a national search for the country’s outstanding and exemplary Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs). The awards seek to recognize and pay tribute to our OFWs for their significant efforts in fostering goodwill among peoples of the world, enhancing and promoting the image of the Filipino as a competent, responsible and dignified worker, and for greatly contributing to the socio-economic development of their communities and our country as a whole.
The BBA aims at providing proper recognition to deserving nominees, thus setting up examples for others to emulate, and for the country to be proud of.
The Bagong Bayani Awards aim to:
1. Provide a nationally established system of recognizing the significant contributions of OFWs;
2. Recognize the extraordinary and exemplary deeds, acts, life, services and contributions of OFWs towards their employers, fellow workers, their families and communities;
3. Honor the Filipino workers worldwide and their families for their distinct role in promoting the integrity of the Filipino workers, and in nation building.
There are five (5) award categories, an innovation introduced in the 2005 Bagong Bayani Awards to allow the recognition of specific contributions of OFWs corresponding to the different areas of their involvements. Likewise, the Awards open itself to as many nominees as possible. The highest honor is the Blas F. Ople Award para sa Natatanging Bagong Bayani, which is awarded to the most outstanding and exemplary OFW who satisfies all the requirements of other awards criteria.
The five (5) categories are:
1. Bagong Bayani Award for Outstanding Employee
2. Bagong Bayani Award for Community and Social Service
3. Bagong Bayani Award for Culture and the Arts
4. Capt. Gregorio S. Oca Achievement Award
5. Blas F. Ople Award para sa Natatanging Bagong Bayani