Filipino Italians are Italians who are either migrants or descendants of migrants from the Philippines. Filipinos form the fifth-largest migrant community in Italy, after the Romanian, Albanian, North African communities and Ukrainians.[1] Italy is one of the largest European migration destination for Filipinos, the others being the UK and Spain.[2] The Italian capital Rome and the city of Milan is home to the largest Filipino community.[2] Roughly 108,000 documented Filipinos reside in Italy as temporary workers or permanent residents, and estimates on the number of undocumented Filipinos vary widely from 20,000 to 80,000.[2][3] In 2008, ISTAT (Istituto Nazionale di Statistica), Italy’s statistics office, reported that there were 113,686 documented Filipinos living in Italy whereas the number had been 105,675 in 2007.[4]

Filipino Italian
Total population
108,000
Regions with significant populations
Throughout Italy. Plurality in Milan, Rome, Bologna, Florence, Modena, Turin
Languages
Italian · Filipino · Philippine languages · (Visayan · Kapampangan · Pangasinan· English
Religion
Predominantly Roman Catholicism
Related ethnic groups
Filipinos · Overseas Filipinos

Filipinos today

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63% of Filipino Italians are women,[2] and they mostly work as domestic assistants.[1] The Filipino Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) says that Italy allows 5000 non-seasonal/regular workers, up from 3000 in 2007.[5] The DOLE said that the change was "a sign of appreciation of the good bilateral cooperation with the Philippines in migratory issues."[5] There are approximately 60 Filipino organisations in Italy, most of which are church-based, although there are several cultural and civic groups as well.[6] One of such groups is the Filipino Women's Council with the aim of educating Filipino women migrants about their rights and lobbying on their behalf.[7]

In 2007, Italy gave Filipinos with a Filipino driver's license a free Italian driver's license.[8]

Remittances

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In 2007, Filipinos in Italy sent the equivalent of US$500 million back to the Philippines, making it the fourth-largest source of remittances after the U.S., Saudi Arabia and Canada.[9] The town of Mabini in Batangas has extensively benefited from Italian Filipinos; the town has the most former residents living abroad than any other Filipino town or city.[10] Most of those living abroad work in Italy, and a section of Mabini today that has large homes built from remittance money is named "Little Italy".[10] However, due to the economic slump in 2008, remittance money from Italy grew at a much slower pace than usual.[11]

Notable Filipinos of Italian descent

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Notable Filipinos in Italy

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Filipino Migration to Europe: Country Profiles". CFMW. Archived from the original on 14 August 2011. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
  2. ^ a b c d "Filipino migration" (PDF). UN. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 July 2014. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
  3. ^ Dancel, Joshua (25 September 2002). "Get amnesty before Italy kicks you out, OFWs told". Sun Star Manila. Archived from the original on 20 April 2009. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
  4. ^ "80,000 more Filipinos in Italy in 2008". ABS CBN News. 9 August 2009. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
  5. ^ a b Uy, Veronica (18 December 2007). "More jobs for Filipinos in Italy, says DoLE". Global Nation. Archived from the original on 22 February 2008. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
  6. ^ "PGMA's Italy visit brightens hope for early accord on 3 RP proposals on Filipino workers". Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs. 2006. Archived from the original on January 8, 2009. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
  7. ^ "Life in Italy is no Dolce Vita". Isis International. 8 May 2007. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
  8. ^ "OFWs in Italy receive 2 unexpected gifts during President's visit". PLDT. 2007. Archived from the original on 13 December 2009. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
  9. ^ "International research institute studies Filipino Women's remittances from Italy". PhilFortune. 17 April 2007. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
  10. ^ a b Conde, Carlos (16 December 2005). "Filipinos count cost of remittance society". IHT. Archived from the original on 19 November 2008. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
  11. ^ Rimando, Lala (15 December 2008). "Global slowdown drags October remittances to weakest pace". ABS-CBN News. Retrieved 19 January 2009.; Arnaldo Mauri, Remittances from Italy to developing countries, Quaderni n. 12, 1996, Abstract [1]
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