Manila to review 'mixed marriages'<\/p>\n
MANILA (AFP): Twenty years after the Vietnam War, Philippine
\nPresident Fidel Ramos said yesterday that his government will
\nlook into the status of the \"stateless\" offspring of mixed
\nmarriages between Filipinos and Indochinese boat people.<\/p>\n
\"I ordered a review of the present executive and legal
\npolicies pertinent to the so-called stateless citizens that come
\nfrom Vietnamese-Philippine marriages or partnerships,\" he told a
\nnews conference.<\/p>\n
He said the review is aimed at making the Philippines \"a more
\nhospitable and amenable place for these individuals.\"<\/p>\n
There are no official estimates available on the number of
\nthese marriages and their children.<\/p>\n
But Ramos said about 400,000 Indochinese boat people -- mostly
\nVietnamese -- had transited through the Philippines since the
\nfall of Saigon, now Ho Chi Minh City, on their way to either
\nthird country resettlement or repatriation.<\/p>\n
About 3,000 others are now interred at a government camp in
\nthe southwestern island of Palawan, awaiting repatriation to
\nVietnam which is scheduled to be completed at the end of the
\nyear.<\/p>\n
\"You can safely say that the Philippines performed the role of
\nthe good host,\" Ramos said, adding that the remaining Vietnamese
\n\"are those that do not choose to go back.\"<\/p>\n
He said Manila continued to make arrangements with Hanoi \"to
\nnormalize or expedite the return\" of these people.<\/p>\n
Commenting on the Vietnam War, in which the Philippines sided
\nwith the United States by sending troops to the South to perform
\nnon-combat civic action work, Ramos said, \"We are happy and we
\nare satisfied that we were able to help the people during our
\ntime.\"<\/p>\n
Ramos, a retired general, served as operations officer to the
\nPhilippine military expedition to Vietnam between 1966 and 1968.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/manila-to-review-mixed-marriages-1447893297",
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"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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