Charlot Zahra
Malta’s little-known Filipino community will be at the forefront of the faithful to greet Pope Benedict XVII during his two-day lightning visit to Malta, according to a report in the international press.
There are over a thousand Filipinos now working in Malta, with most of them making their mark as professionals, especially in the hotel and restaurant sector.
A report about the Filipino diaspora in Malta was published yesterday by Rose Eclarinal, ABS-CBN’s New Europe Correspondent.
“Allan Orio was given a palatable offer by his former boss in the Middle East to move to Valletta, the capital of Malta and help build a hotel and restaurant business in the quaint Mediterranean city,” the ABS-CBN report said.
“Six years later, Orio is now the Food and Beverage Manager of Hotel Juliani,” the ABS-CBN reported added.
The Filpino report explained that although Valletta, Europe’s smallest capital city, had also felt the ripple effect of the global recession, “many highly skilled Filipino migrants kept their jobs because of the quality of work and service they offer,” without mentioning the fact that many of them receive wages that are less than those normally accepted by Maltese nationals.
“Filipino workers here are very welcome and loved by Maltese people in general. They are famous because they are hard worker and reliable as well,” Joseph Galea, a Maltese national, was quoted as saying.
Many Filipinos in Malta are working in the domestic sector as nannies and some are also working as nurses and caregivers.
“For now, they are relying on each other for support and guidance as they wait for the opening of a Philippine consulate which might take a while considering the number of OFWs in Malta,” the ABS-CBN report explained.
According to the ABS-CBN report, “the weather and the Catholic values” of the Maltese people endeared many Filipinos to this island nation “where 98 per cent of the population is Catholic”.
The Filipino Diaspora in Malta gets to know each other through the church. Fr. Stephen Mifsud of St. Barbara Church in Valletta told ABS-CBN how Filipinos congregated in the church “especially during church festivities”.
Those who felt the pangs of homesickness got words of encouragement from the Tagalog (the official language of the Philippines)- speaking priest.
“I support them and tell them it’s part of the process, and I tell it’s okay to feel that way because everyone who goes abroad for a long time misses his family,” Fr Mifsud was quoted as saying.
“They come to the community because there are Filipino songs as well and it is like in your own country, and it’s a place where you can mingle and feel you are a Filipino,” the Maltese priest concluded his comments. czahra@mediatoday.com.mt
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