KUALA LUMPUR,MALAYSIA—THERE is a swagger in Roy as he bends his left hand to hold a circular tray filled with used plates and wine glasses.

As he sees a Iranian woman customer who is almost full eating breakfast, the Iloilo province native says with an English twang, “I will take care of your plate Madam.”

PASAY CITY—A MONTHS-OLD program handing out business loans to returning migrant workers does not require collateral from borrowers, and a finance expert thinks borrowers might encounter uneasiness to repay these loans.

The P2 billion Reintegration Fund for returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) hands out loans ranging from P200,000 to P2 million to existing migrant entrepreneurs. But microfinance specialist Jun Perez is worried that required documents returning OFWs must present and frequently show might give borrowers hesitation to repay.

BARCELONA, SPAIN—A FAIR-SKINNED man slides on the chair beside Rodrigo as the sun hides behind century-old houses and birds chirp from slender trees lining the Bracafe coffee shop here.

Rodrigo lets out a breath of relief, recognizing the man as Filipino who may have good news as Spain grapples with a debt crisis and migrant workers like him look for solace in places like the coffee shop.

PASAY CITY — Early evening here in an air-conditioned room, Sandra dela Cruz performed what she does every morning far south in her rubber plantation: stretching a hand.

But while the 50-year-old spouse of a seaman is used to doing the latter, there was a lifting feeling as she did the former.

(First of three parts)

I AM A CONSORT in waiting, waiting to be petitioned by my fiancé to Australia, a country open to marriage of both males.

This is our story.

Our engagement is a very long one: I said yes in 2009. Marriage proposals are usually followed by the marriage itself a year or within a year after engagement. I know mine will take longer.