'Shaken' Pinoys arrive home from quake-hit Italy

MANILA, Philippines - The second batch of Filipinos affected by the April earthquake in Italy arrived in Manila Wednesday afternoon, the Overseas Workers’ Welfare Administration (OWWA) said.

The OWWA Repatriation and Assistance Division told GMANews.TV in an interview that the 14 Filipinos arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1 at 1 p.m. on Wednesday via Singapore Airlines flight SQ 910 from Rome, Italy.

The first batch – with six Filipinos – was repatriated on April 22.

The returnees were victims of the 6.3-magnitude earthquake that rocked the city of L'Aquila on April 6. L’Aquila is the capital of Abruzzo and is approximately two to three hours from the national capital, Rome.

About 150 Filipinos were reportedly in L’Aquila when the earthquake struck.

Filipina caregiver Inna Vista of Zamboanga Del Norte said they were forced to evacuate their home when the ceiling started to fall.

Maria Clarita Bermudez of Ilocos Sur said they had to leave Italy because of the worsening living conditions there, especially now that they have a newborn baby.

OWWA has promised to take care of the repatriated Filipinos in Manila until they return to their provinces.

The Commission on Filipinos Overseas estimated that there were more than 120,000 Filipinos in Italy in 2007. Of the number, almost 83,000 are contract workers and more than 24,000 are permanent residents. - Kimberly Jane T. Tan, GMANews.TV

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