WHAT HAS BECOME OF THE OLD P.F.A.C.?

What happened to the refugee camp?

The Philippine First Asylum Center, more popularly known as the  P.F.A.C., permanently folded in 1996. The UNHCR determined that the remaining Vietnamese asylum seekers left in the camp were no longer automatically considered authentic refugees but merely economic migrants who left their country for economic reason not for political.  They thought that the asylum seekers should return to Vietnam.

The Vietnamese refused to return to the country that made their lives miserable. They strongly opposed mandatory repatriation. Many of them left the camp and lived all over the Philippines (Cebu, Manila, Cavite, Laguna, and Bohol to name a few). They survived by selling merchandise to Filipino communities or doing survival jobs making minimal income.

The Roman Catholic Bishop of Manila intervened. With the financial donation from the Vietnamese around the world, CADP and the Catholic Church (of the Philippines) purchased a huge piece of land on Honda Bay (14 kilometers from the former PFAC) and then relocated the remaining Vietnamese there. That place is called Viet Ville.

Viet Ville is now one of Palawan's tourist attractions. Their restaurant serves authentic Vietnamese Cuisine. Only one Vietnamese lives there though. He's married to a Filipino and they have five lovely children. In 2005 and 2007, all others had been resettled in Canada, Australia and the USA on compassionate grounds.

In December 2005, these former Viet Ville Vietnamese residents had an orientation meeting in Orange County, California. A lot of familiar people, including the famous and respected Vietnamese actress Kieu Chinh, graced the occasion.

Vietnamese actress Kieu Chinh with American actor Alan Alda on the set of their Emmy Award winning TV series M.A.S.H.

At that momentous occasion, Andrew Taylor, a former PFAC Palawan volunteer, was interviewed by SBTN Television about his perspectives on the Vietnamese people and his experience in the refugee camp.

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 (See the pictures taken by Mr. Hai Duong during that momentous occasion.)

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