Filipinos in Italy are asking for government assistance due to the rising number of job losses in the European country brought by the coronavirus disease or COVID-19 pandemic.
“This has caused a profound impact in the lives of overseas workers from the different sectors, like the tourism, domestic, and assistance. [All are] vulnerable to losing their jobs. Thousands had forcibly taken their unpaid leave, vacation leave, and worse, some had been terminated,” Edgardo Turingan, Task Force COVID-19 OFW Watch Italy spokesperson, said in an ABS-CBN news report.
Italy is in total lockdown in its government’s bid to contain and prevent the spread of the virus. There are 168,292 Filipinos in Italy.
Most Filipinos are in the Lombardia region, the worst-hit area of COVID-19 with a 58,408 Filipino population.
The Task Force COVID-19 has been gathering information on Filipinos who lost their jobs and who are extremely affected.
The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration or OWWA said they will provide a prompt response to OFWs affected by the pandemic.
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