PH Embassy in Rome, PH Consulate General in Milan Facilitate Repatriation of Filipinos from Italy
Wearing masks and observing social distancing, overseas Filipinos from Rome and Florence queue as they await check-in at the Milan-Malpensa International Airport to board the DFA-chartered flight to repatriate them on 28 April 2020 to the Philippines. (Rome PE photo)
MILAN 30 April 2020 — As part of the Department of Foreign Affairs’ (DFA) repatriation efforts for overseas Filipinos affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Philippine Embassy in Rome and the Philippine Consulate General in Milan facilitated the repatriation of 82 Filipinos from Malpensa International Airport through a DFA-charted Philippine Airlines (PAL) flight bound to Manila on 28 April 2020.
This was the first repatriation funded by the DFA for land-based Filipinos in Italy, the hardest hit country by the COVID-19 contagion in Europe.
The Filipino repatriates included students, overseas Filipino workers, and their families from Rome, Florence, and northern Italy. A number of them lost their jobs as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Furthermore, the Philippine Embassy in Rome and the Philippine Consulate General in Milan, in collaboration with Philippine Overseas Labor Offices (POLO) in Italy facilitated the return to the Philippines of six students and close to a thousand seafarers.
The departure of the Filipinos came a few days before Italy is set to end a countrywide lockdown to halt the spread of COVID 19 on 03 May 2020.
Philippine Consul General to Milan Bernadette Therese C. Fernandez thanked the repatriates for their patience and cooperation during the pre-repatriation procedures. She encouraged them to continue taking care of themselves and others by observing physical distancing and practicing personal hygiene all throughout the trip. Consul General Fernandez informed them that their return to the Philippines was made possible with the support of the Philippine Government through the DFA led by Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr.
The Philippine Consulate General in Milan also acknowledged the cooperation of officers and staff of the different agencies including POLO/OWWA, SSS and Pag-IBIG Milan, as well as the support of individuals in the community who referred for assistance the most vulnerable Filipinos, such as the Philippine Nurses Association in Milan (TPNAM) for the medical triage procedure and Fr. Sonny de Armas for the blessing of the repatriates in this “whole-of-nation" approach.
The Filipino repatriates arrived in Manila on 29 April 2020,at 1:53 PM (Philippine time) and were subjected to the14-day mandatory government-facility-based quarantine. END
Overseas Filipinos from Rome and Florence prepare for an eight-hour bus ride from the Philippine Embassy in Rome to Milan-Malpensa International Airport, where they will board the DFA-chartered flight to repatriate them on 28 April 2020 to the Philippines. (Rome PE photo)
Officials of the Philippine Consulate in Milan headed by Consul General Bernadette Therese C. Fernandez (4th from right) and officials of POLO/OWWA with the team that conducted the medical triage procedure and Fr. Sonny de Armas (extreme right). (Milan PCG photo)
Philippine Consul General to Milan Bernadette Therese C. Fernandez gives last-minute briefing to the repatriates prior to their transfer to Malpensa International Airport. (Milan PCG photo)
The Philippine Consulate General in Milan team bid the repatriates a safe voyage as they board PAL flight PR8719 bound for Manila at the Malpensa International Airport. (Milan PCG photo)
For more information, visit https://www.romepe.dfa.gov.ph or https://www.facebook.com/PHinItaly/.
For more information, visit https://www.milanpcg.dfa.gov.ph or https://www.facebook.com/PHLinMilan/.