ILOILO CITY, Philippines—Vietnam has backed out from the Philippine International Mathematics Competition which opened here on Monday due to the negative news reports generated by the Maguindanao massacre.

Mathematics Trainers Guild Philippines executive vice president Rechilda Villame said the Socialist Republic of Vietnam did not push through with its participation in the competition because of its concern over the peace and order situation in the Philippines.

Villame said other countries had also expressed worry over the carnage that resulted in the deaths of at least 57 persons, including 30 journalists.

"Their impression (is) that it is happening all over the country because masyadong malala ang publicity abroad. But we were able to convince them that the venue is very far from the scene of the incident. So far, it's only Vietnam who did not trust us that it was this peaceful," Villame told the Inquirer in an interview on Monday.

She said these countries asked whether the airports were still open and if flights were available.

"When (the massacre) happened, everyone was prepared (because) the participants had bought their tickets and so they just had to verify. With the power of technology and communications, we were able to convince them that everything is peaceful (in Iloilo City) and there is nothing to worry about," Villame said.

She said four other delegations backed out but not because of the Maguindanao massacre but due to financial constraints and the failure to secures visa.

Villame said delegations from Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Bangladesh backed out due to lack of funds while the one from Russia failed to secure their visas.

The 400 participants of the competition come from the Philippines, China, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, Bulgaria, Brunei, Iran, Cyprus, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Macau, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, Romania, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, and the Netherlands.

The competition for elementary and high school students is organized by the Mathematics Trainers Guild Philippines, a non-government organization that develops and promotes Mathematics education and training in the country.

"Our organization has been training a lot of students all over the country and as time goes on, we have been discovering so many talents," Villame said.

The competition, held at the Iloilo Grand Hotel in Iloilo City, was to end Tuesday afternoon with an awarding ceremony for the winners.