She is also a friend Loida Nicolas Lewis, a businesswoman and former chair of the National Federation of Filipino American Associations, the umbrella organization of the more than two million Filipinos in America. Lewis was a top contributor to the reelection campaign of Sen. Clinton in New York.

Recently, she attended the Asean media awards at the Mayflower Hotel. She was also present during the premiere of a movie of Filipino and American troops battling the Japanese invaders in the Philippines in World War II.

Some Filipino Americans have expressed doubt whether or not America is ready for a woman to lead the United States in the war on terror. But some, particularly among women, said it is time for a woman to lead the nation.

After the midterm election which saw the Democrats taking over control of both houses of Congress, Filipino American Democrats started preparing to support Hillary should she decide to run.

With her announcement, the field of US Democratic presidential contenders continued to grow. New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a former US ambassador to the United Nations and energy secretary, and a prominent Hispanic leader, has also announced the creation of a presidential exploratory committee, according to people close to the Democratic Party.

With Sen. Clinton’s entry in the race and the first woman at that, the race for the presidency will be the first groundbreaking political contests in US history.

She now becomes the first woman to seek the presidency while another Democrat, sen. Barack Obama (N-Chicago) hopes to be the first African-American in the White House.

“I’m in. And I’m in to win,” Clinton said in a video announcement on her website Jan. 20.

Four days before Obama signaled his own plan to fight for the nomination, saying he had formed a committee to test the waters and start raising money.

With their entry the field of confirmed Democratic hopefuls expanded to seven, still 12 months ahead of the first crucial state-based primary elections that will decide the Democratic and Republican party nominees who battle for the White House in November 2008.

Clinton, 59, ended years of speculation over her political ambitions with her announcement. “The frontrunner has just stepped on the stage,” said Washington’s veteran political analyst Charlie Cook. Polls put Hillary ahead of Obama in the Democratic race, 41 to 17 percent.

“This is the first woman in our history who will be taken seriously by everyone,’ said political scientist Ruth Mandel of Rutgers University.

But while polls showed Clinton the odds-on favorite to capture the Democratic nomination next year, her continuing ability to divide voters meant that the race was still wide open with Obama, former senator John Edwards and others yet to commit to the race angling to demonstrate they have a better chance to defeat the Republican challenger.

Likewise, a Gallup poll taken a week ago put Clinton ahead with backing from 29 percent of Democratic voters, compared with 18 percent for Obama and Edwards at 13 percent.