PH EMBASSY IN ROME SERVES 89 FILIPINOS IN ALBANIA
16 April 2024, ROME – The Philippine Embassy in Rome and its partner agencies rendered a total of 55 consular and labor services to Overseas Filipinos from different parts of Albania during a consular outreach mission held at the Philippine Consulate in Albania (PHC-Albania) office in the capital city of Tirana on 13-14 April 2024.
The consular outreach mission led by Consul General Randy B. Arquiza was conducted in partnership with PHC-Albania headed by Consul Loritan Prespa, a.h. Among the services rendered by the Embassy were passport applications, civil registry, certifications and notarizations for civil registry applications, consultations on consular and assistance-to-nationals services. One (1) Filipino took his oath to retain or reacquire Philippine citizenship under Republic Act No. 9225.
The Migrant Workers Office in Rome (MWO-Rome), Overseas Workers Welfare Administration in Rome (OWWA-Rome), also joined the mission and processed verification of contracts, company site inspections, and OWWA renewals. This included a Post Arrival Orientation Seminar (PAOS) attended by 89 participants.
On 12 April 2024, on the sidelines of the consular outreach mission, Consul General Arquiza, accompanied by PHC-Albania’s Consul Prespa, a.h., and Attache Charlie Q. Cinco, met with Hon. Adela Xhemali, Albanian Deputy Minister of Finance and Economy on the proposed bilateral labor agreement (BLA) with Albania. Due to the start of the influx of tourists to the country, the Deputy Minister reiterated the Albanian government’s wish to speed up the signing of the BLA and informed that the Albanian PM is willing to visit Manila for the signing.
“The Philippines will pursue a labor cooperation agreement with Albania to facilitate the orderly entry of our OFWs, discourage third-country hiring which makes our workers susceptible to abuses, and diversify the sectors and industries where they work,” said Consul General Arquiza.
The consular team also met with Filipino community leaders where a productive dialogue and exchange of ideas ensued.
The Philippine Embassy in Rome has concurrent jurisdiction over Albania, which is home to an estimated 400 Filipinos. This is the first consular outreach mission conducted by the Embassy in Albania for this year. The mission was made possible by the DFA’s Office of the Undersecretary for Migration Affairs (OUMA) and the Embassy’s partner agencies. END
