Orang Dampuan. During the transition from the Precolonial to Colonial eras, both the Philippines and Vietnam witnessed the actions of the Pirates of the South China Coast and how Fujianese pirates and Wokous from Japan intervened in the political, military and commercial affairs of the Vietnamese coast and Philippine archipelago. Maritime trade relations were then disrupted with the conquest of the Philippines by the Spaniards in the 16th century and the conquest of Vietnam by the French in the 19th century. The French occupation of Vietnam was successful partially because of assistance from Spanish-Philippines as soldiers from Spanish-Philippines which also included Mexican immigrants, were used by the French to augment the forces that invaded Saigon. Philippine-Vietnam relations during the Cold War The Philippines was initially aligned with South Vietnam and provided them humanitarian aid in the Vietnam War. Before the Fall of Saigon, which preludes the disestablishment of South Vietnam, the Philippines was already preparing to establish relations with North Vietnam. President Marcos authorised his wife, First Lady Imelda Marcos, to make direct contacts while she was conducting state visits to Middle-eastern countries in early 1975. The communist takeover of Cambodia and the impending defeat of South Vietnamese forces led Manila to establish ties with Hanoi. The move was not seen as surprising as it was in line with Marcos' foreign policy to strengthen ties with socialist states in order to broaden economic and trade ties. On July 9, 1976, Vietnam Deputy Foreign Minister Phan Hien arrived in Manila to discuss the formal establishment of ties between the two countries. On July 12, 1976, formal relations were finally established with the Philippines the fourth country in the ASEAN to establish relations with the Socialist Republic of Vietnam after Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore. The Philippines and Vietnam opened their respective embassies in 1978. Among the first problems to test the relation between the two countries was the repatriation of 14 Filipinos and 10 Vietnamese families who were still in Ho Chi Minh City, attempts of Vietnamese nationals to illegally enter the Philippines by claiming themselves to be members of Filipino families, and the involvement of Filipinos in the black market was received by the Philippine embassy. These issues hampered relations until the early 1980s. Post-Cold War relations Despite Vietnam's alignment with the Soviet Union and the Philippines with the United States during the Cold War, bilateral ties between the two countries