GOVPH

DFA REPATRIATES 142 FILIPINO NATIONALS FROM VIETNAM

DFA REPATRIATES 142 FILIPINO NATIONALS FROM VIETNAM

Ambassador Meynardo LB. Montealegre and Honorary Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City Le Thi Phung with the Filipino repatriates at Tan Son Nhat Airport

On Thursday, 24 March 2022 the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Embassy of the Philippines in Vietnam repatriated 142 Filipinos from Vietnam through a chartered sweeper flight from Philippine Airlines that departed Ho Chi Minh City at 12:35 PM Vietnam time (+7GMT). Said sweeper flight picked up 52 passengers from Bangkok, Thailand before arriving in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Passengers in the flight included distressed Filipinos who have been unemployed and those with tourist visas unable to leave Vietnam before the end of automatic extension of visas by the Immigration Department on 15 January 2022.

The Embassy of the Philippines also facilitated and paid for the RT-PCR Tests required by the Philippine government before repatriation.

Ambassador Meynardo LB. Montealegre, personally supervised the repatriation of the Filipino nationals with the help of ATN Officer Mr. Edifredo Dabuet, the Honorary Consul General Atty. Le Thi Phung, and Honorary Vice Consul Nguyen Viet Gia Huy.

Ambassador Meynardo LB. Montealegre, ATN officer Edifredo Dabuet and Honorary Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City Le Thi Phung with the Filipino repatriates at Tan Son Nhat Airport

The Embassy was also assisted by Philippine Airlines and the Government of Vietnam, particularly the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Immigration Department of the Ministry of Public Security and the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam. /END

EMBASSY OF THE PHILIPPINES IN HANOI HOLDS FIRST CONSULAR MISSION OF THE YEAR IN HO CHI MINH CITY

EMBASSY OF THE PHILIPPINES IN HANOI HOLDS FIRST CONSULAR MISSION OF THE YEAR IN HO CHI MINH CITY

The Embassy of the Philippines in Hanoi held its first Consular Outreach Mission to Ho Chi Minh City on the weekend of 25-27 February 2022 at Huong Sen Hotel along Dong Khoi Street in District 1 of Ho Chi Minh City.

This was the first consular outreach mission in Ho Chi Minh City since April 2021 before the fourth wave of COVID-19 arrived in Vietnam and forced most major cities to go into hard lockdown. The Embassy had previously reinstated the extension of passports at the Honorary Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City to address the needs of those with expiring passport while travel between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City was not yet advisable.

Ambassador Meynardo LB. Montealegre also visited to Ho Chi Minh City along with the consular team to personally oversee the Mission.

The Embassy processed 176 passport applications and 47 civil registrations among the 277 total services rendered.

EMBASSY OF THE PHILIPPINES HOLDS SECOND CONSULAR MISSION IN HO CHI MINH CITY

The Embassy of the Philippines Hanoi returned to Ho Chi Minh City for its second Consular Outreach Mission of the year from 11 to 13 March 2022 at Huong Sen Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City.

Embassy officials were back in Ho Chi Minh City last weekend for another Consular Outreach Mission, just two weeks after the previous Mission to Saigon, to address the large demand for passport renewal services for Filipinos in Ho Chi Minh City.

The Embassy also extended its consular service hours by half a day by opening the Mission at 8AM instead of 12PM to accommodate more applications. The same format will be followed for the succeeding Consular Outreach Missions in Ho Chi Minh City to accommodate the high demand for consular services for our kababayan in South Vietnam.

A digital GAD corner was also set up during the Consular Outreach Mission in celebration of the National Women's Month.

The Embassy was able to render 287 total services including 174 passport applications and 89 new passport claims. The next Consular Outreach Mission is scheduled from 29 April to 1 May 2022.

PH AMBASSADOR MEETS WITH THE NEW SET OF OFFICERS OF SAMAHANG PINOY (SAPI) SA VIETNAM

PH AMBASSADOR MEETS WITH THE NEW SET OF OFFICERS OF SAMAHANG PINOY (SAPI) SA VIETNAM

The Ambassador of the Philippines to Vietnam, H.E. Meynardo LB. Montealegre (2nd from R) met with the newly elected set of officers of Samahang Pinoy sa Vietnam (SAPI), a Filipino Community Group based in Ho Chi Minh City on 26 February 2022.

The Ambassador congratulated the new SAPI officials, led by President Gerardo Ruivivar, Vice-President Beth Candol, Secretary Katrina Aguila, Treasurer Daisy Beboso, Auditor Christopher Sumague, Public Information Officer Joseph Anthony Ontulan, and Sergeant-at-Arms Julieta Frani.

The new SAPI Officials discussed the concerns of the Filipino Community in Ho Chi Minh City, particularly labor and visa issues of OFs in Vietnam. The Embassy Officials assured the Filipino Community leaders of its support for the Filipino Community in Ho Chi Minh City and discussed how to better coordinate with SAPI regarding each other’s projects and activities.

The Philippine Embassy also presented Certificates of Commendation to the members/volunteers of SAPI as well as to Honorary Consul General Atty. Le Thi Phung and Honorary Vice Consul Atty. Nguyen Gia Viet Huy on their assistance during the Embassy's repatriation of distressed overseas Filipinos in Ho Chi Minh City affected by COVID-19 pandemic in October last year.