18 May 2006 - Philippine Ambassador to Italy Philippe J. Lhuillier reported to the Department of Foreign Affairs that the Embassy sent on 13 May 2006 a consular mission to Palermo, Sicily, to serve the consular needs of overseas Filipinos in that region.

Ambassador Lhuillier said Vice Consul Emmanuel R. Fernandez led the mission with the support of five consular assistants and  five representatives of the DOLE, OWWA, SSS, and Equitable-PCI Bank for the issuance of OFW e-cards.   The consular team  issued a total of 420 passports and more than 40 consular documents from 13 May to 14 May at the convention hall of the Chiesa dell' Ancelle in Via Marchese Ugo, the venue of the mission.

Ambassador Lhuillier informed the Department that through the efforts of the Philippine Don Bosco Association headed by its president, Mr. Armand Curameng, busloads of Filipinos from several parts of Sicily (including Messina, Giarre, Catania and Palermo), as well as from the neighboring town of Reggio di Calabria arrived in Palermo to avail themselves of the mission's services.

Vice Consul Fernandez also took the opportunity to strengthen the Embassy's links with the leaders of the Filipino community in Sicily and Calabria and to listen to some assistance-to-nationals (ATN) concerns raised by the Filipinos.

The records of the Embassy show that Sicily is home to more than 4,000 Filipinos END