370 Filipinos from 3 cruise ships docked in Italy arrive in Manila

Image courtesy of the DFA

MANILA, Philippines — A total of 370 Filipino crew members from three docked cruise ships in Italy have been repatriated, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Sunday.

In a statement, the DFA stated that the repatriates composed of 248 Filipinos from the MV Costa Luminosa in Milan, and 122 Filipinos from both the MV Grandiosa and MV Opera docked in Rome.

The repatriates arrived in Manila on Saturday night.

Image: Courtesy of the DFA

The chartered flight that brought the crew members home, the DFA stated, was made possible by the joint efforts of the Philippine Embassy in Rome, the Philippine Consulate General in Milan, and the DFA-Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs.

“The DFA likewise worked closely with the Department of Health, Department of Labor and Employment and the Office and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, Department of Transportation, Department of Interior and Local Government, and the local manning agencies in the Philippines for the seamless repatriation of the Filipino crew,” the department stated.

All repatriates underwent medical check-up, and where found to be asymptomatic before boarding the chartered flight, the DFA stated.

However, they have to undergo a mandatory 14-day facility-based isolation supervised by the Bureau of Quarantine, the department added. As of press time, it is still not known where the Filipino crewmen would be billeted for self-quarantine.

The COVID-19 crisis was declared as a pandemic by the World Health Organization, as over 600,000 people were infected of the viral disease worldwide, of which 30,880 have died while 142,361 people successfully recovered.

Due to rising COVID-19 cases in Italy, it was reported that it was the second country to surpass China’s coronavirus case.

EDV