12 March 2004 – Foreign Affairs Secretary Delia Domingo Albert opened on 28 February 2004 a facility that will be used as a polling place for overseas Filipino voters in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam during the coming elections in May. The Secretary visited the bustling Southern Vietnamese city before the start of her official visit in Hanoi and participation at the ASEAN Ministerial Retreat in Halong City.

Speaking before a reception held in her honor at the sprawling residence of SAPI (Samahang Pinoy) South President Gerry Pagliwanan and other Filipino community leaders in Ho Chi Minh City, Secretary Albert revealed that the Philippine and Vietnamese governments have actually been cooperating closely on this project for several months now.

“The Vietnamese government, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, had coordinated with our Embassy in Hanoi to locate and extend the use of a government-owned facility to our countrymen for the coming elections in May, “ she said.

“I conveyed my appreciation to the Vietnamese leaders for providing this venue, a government guest house in Ho Chi Minh City, to be used as a polling place for the more than 300 registered Filipino absentee voters in Vietnam, majority of whom are residing in this city,” Secretary Albert added.
 
Following the enactment of the Overseas Voting Act, hundreds of Filipinos residing in Vietnam came forward last September to register for the elections. The Philippine Embassy in Hanoi, under specific instructions from the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, responded by making all the necessary representations with the host government in behalf of Filipino citizens living here.

Accordingly, these Filipinos are expected to join their fellow compatriots in Hanoi, the capital city located in the northern part of the country, who are expected to troop to the Philippine Embassy premises there beginning April 12th up to May 10th, when the polls will close and the counting will begin.

Compared to other Filipino communities elsewhere in the world, especially in the Middle East and North America, the one in Vietnam is rather modest in size. But it is indicative of their seriousness about this coming electoral exercise that nearly 70 percent of them have registered for the 2004 elections. Of this number, nearly all expect to vote.

“During my meeting with the Filipino community leaders, I explained to them the importance of the forthcoming polls in May, which are historic because this is the first time that overseas Filipinos will be given the opportunity to select their national leaders. The Filipinos in Vietnam have expressed their eagerness to participate in the elections and to cast their votes as an affirmation of their support to this historic exercise,” Secretary Albert said. END.