“I can no longer understand Tagalog” declared Arlan Cruz Calderon. Arriving at the international airport, he and his wife Sarah were only entertaining the throngs of Japanese media waiting for them after they were deported from Japan. Both entered Japan on false documents 13 years ago when they were in their mid 20’s.
They were what you’d call TNT short for ‘tago ng tago’ a Filipino word for ‘hide’. TNT embodies the illegal status of some Filipinos in many countries. Generally, most TNTs came through legally with valid visas but decided to stay beyond their visa validity, and thus overstaying illegally -- in hiding. Some enter countries with falsified documents circumventing due process such as prior conviction and exclusion making ineligible for immigration approval. Most if not all know that once they are caught, they are subject to deportation.
In the case of the Calderons, Japan deported the Filipino couple simply because it is the Law. Amidst the hullabaloo, Japan has to maintain its policy. Let’s face it - the couple entered Japan on false passports when they were in their early to mid 20’s. Why? In addition, is it the government’s fault that while the Calderons were hiding and protected by relatives, they gave birth to a child who, now at 13 years, is entitled for citizenship? For me, it is a preposterous notion for the Calderon’s to expect the Japanese to grant them citizenship. If that’s the case, countries must do away with their respective border controls. People can just come in, hide for say 10 to 15 years and surface expecting entitlements afforded to legal citizens.
We ought to have respect for Japan, and its people to uphold their laws.
And why should Japan grant the Calderons or any TNT a residency for that matter? From how the Calderons conducted themselves, they are not exactly oozing with loyalty, good morals and upstanding character. It is an absolute disgrace to speak deficiently of your own birth country because it does not reflect on the people and the nation as a whole but of the Calderon’s opportunistic nature. It is immoral, like selling your own mother. We all do silly things in times of great misfortune but calling the Philippines hell and a rotten place neither create favorable reflections on their characters nor influences a granting of clemency on their appeal. It just made them look malevolent.
And so now Sarah and Arlan Cruz Calderon are back in the Philippines pretending to be Japanese who can only speak Nihongo. They acted with so much disdain and pretension that if I were their immigration officer, I would have declared them persona non-grata. What an insult to the nation. It is extremely disgusting. If I were to decide whether to grant them future Japanese residency, I would take this insult as a reflection of the nefariousness of their characters.
I take a firm stance against illegal TNT’s because not only it is expensive for taxpayers, but it's difficult for many people who want to go through the legalities of sponsoring family members. In fact, many Filipino families have now been increasingly asked for a “bond” that amounts to paying the government thousands of dollars as collateral for an application to be approved.
As an immigrant myself, I have been in and out of the country since I was 13 years old. Almost two thirds of my life has been spent outside the Philippines, but I am still proud of being able to speak and understand 3 Visayan dialects and Tagalog. As for Calderon, maybe someone should spank him with tsinelas and see if he screams “aray!”
Calderon, who claims to no longer speak or understand his mother tongue, reminds me of one of my mother’s maids who went to Manila for greener pastures and later came back to her village acting all high and mighty, even asking how anyone could eat ‘dangit’ (a dried fish local delicacy which is my all-time favorite).
How pretentious! Someone did slap her silly and she screamed “pesteng yawa, aray!”
No matter how hard anyone may make “Tago ng Tago” and hide who he or she really is, one’s true colors will eventually surface… often slapping him or her in the face!
Personal opinion lang po! There is a bigger issue than immigration- that is violating the rights of children!
Personally I think that the separation of Noriko from her parents is a clear violation of Children’s rights... In fact the ARCSEA , an organization of child rights advocates, is outraged with the Japanese Justice Ministry’s decision to deport Arlan and his wife.
Can you can imagine the fear, anxiety and sadness of the 13-year old girl ?
I kinda agree with Amiel. Clearly, this is not for the best interest of Noriko as a child because both choices, going to the Philippines with her parents or her parents will leave her alone in Japan, are not for her well-being!
1. Psychologists have established that the crucial formative years is between birth to 12 years old. The probability of a post-trauma disorder because of parental separation is very minimal for a 13 year-old, who has her aunt.
2. This is not the middle ages when a child is completely disconnected. The telephones, YM, skype will connect them.
3. I know of a lot of OFWs who left their young children at home. Some manage to survive well and with the help of some people, grow up emotionally stable and healthy.
It is sad for a child to be separated from her parents, but making that as an excuse for circumventing the law is just too disagreeable.
If that is the case, then we should not imprison any criminal who has a child...same banana.
"Yes, I can. But I would like to know if that Calderons were FORCED by law to leave their child behind. ".... YES THEY WERE!
The Japanese government can at least give the Calderon couple a temporary stay till Noriko becomes an adult. I have lived in Japan and believe- living there at 13 years of age without loving parents is HARD!
Can you imagine living in Manila at 13 years of age without your parents?
Prostitution, drugs etc. are rampant in Japan and i SINCERELY PITY Noriko!
I don't have any doubts that it will be difficult for Noriko, and I too would have preferred that the Japanese government extended the stay. I agree with you 100%
But Boldstar's bottomline is, we cannot fault a government for implementing a policy.
if there is pain in this family, it is a direct consequence of their earlier decision to TNT.
They took the risk, they gambled, they lost. Others won. But they lost.
While I have pity for the child, I am challenging the parents to create a long distance loving relationship because that is a consequence.
Rain
(And what's with the news that you have a bird flu?)
1. She (Noriko) thought she was Japanese! 2. Shall the child bear her parents sins? 3. What is a temporary visa for 5 more years till Noriko becomes an adult? 4. Didn't Japan rape our country and killed our children? They retreated to Baguio and (Japanese) committed horrible crimes that normal human don't commit!
the Japanese treated the Filipino civilians barbarically. It is an astounding fact that while POWs died at a rate of 1.2% in Germany, they died at a rate of 37% across the Pacific.
The Japanese are the most barbaric race ever conceived by "god"!
That is one thing I am interested about regarding this case. I can understand why the Calderons would LIE to their daughter and tell her she is Japanese, that is easy. That is the best way to remain in hiding. The revelation of truth that her parents are illegal aliens may or may not be damaging, depending on how the parents handled the confrontation.
No, the child should not bear the sins of their parents, but the parents own, admit and be responsible for the consequences of those.
What is a temporary visa for 5 years? Nothing in the overall scheme of things for us. But for Japan, I would think they are making a policy statement.
Yes, Japan's parents raped our country and killed our children. Should their children bear those sins their parents commit?
Is our idea of justice be measured that way?
I am not an immigrant, the only times I have lived abroad were as a development volunteer in two continents. So i can never claim that I understand illegal immigration.
Every word counts and to perfect effect. Wow! A VERY BIG THANK YOU FOR THIS PIECE, BOLDSTAR. YOU MADE MY DAY. AND IT'S KINDA GETTING BORING AND SLEEPY AFTER HAVING LUNCH HERE AT THE OFFICE.(side note: so true, one will never ever lose one's native tongue. on my first big snow experience here in dc, the morning after; the driveway had to be shovelled off. some parts were frozen. i slipped... and automatically "aguidoy! aguidoy!" (waray term for ouch)came rushing out between my teeth. hahahahaha. can't forget the stunned/quizzical look on my kano neighbors' faces. hahahahaha
1. the calderons went to japan using fake documents.
2. the calderons got caught after 13 years and got deported.
3. the calderons have a 13 year old daughter who opted to stay with a relative in japan.
4. now, the calderons pleaded with the japanese authorities to give them "time" until noriko's reaches the age of majority.
here's my take. the calderons broke japan's laws and should suffer the consequences.
now, they ask clemency so as not to be separated from their 13 year old daughter.
i don't think the law forced them to separate. the option of taking the child with them to the phils was never taken out of the equation. they chose to leave the child.
why didn't they choose that? why did they leave the child there? obviously, they are using their child so they can go back to japan in the hopes they stay in japan legally next time they go.
well, they can't have it both ways. they gambled and lost. pay the piper.
like they say, if you can't do the time, don't do the crime.
sincere reaction to amiel's opinion: being still a minor,how about taking the daughter back to the philippines to avoid the separation dilemma. the child can always go back when she grows older if she so desire being a japanese citizen. for a happy ending she may find a way in petitioning her parents as japanese immigrants. remember "Somebody Up There Works in Mysterious Ways".
I despise people like this. This kind of attitude contributes to elitism and it's a huge problem. As far as I'm concerned, her parents deserved to be deported. That's what tends to happen if authorities find out you're in a country illegally. Yes, it's sad that the child got left behind but she's being taken care of by an aunt.
I have no sympathy for the parents. A tinge of pinoy empathy...maybe, but that's it. And the teenager? Please, at thirteen, MANY kids are separted from their folks. I was and I did fine!
The parents have ruined the child's life for the moment EXPOSING her to the fierce Jap press for SIX months now and whatever else to save their own behinds from deportation to their OWN country just a few hours away.. They were using their daughter its plain to see. I'm sure she was pleased to have a break from the fierce media attention she was under before they were booted out. I read she is 'slipping' back into her 'normal' life again which is great for her. Why should she have to be DRAGGED into their terrible decisions years later, disrupting her schooling social network and her true sense of self.(did she ever have one?) The parents fucked up big time and never truly put their daughter first. They just hate the Philippines and think they are ABOVE it now. I can smell their displeasure from here. I bet you they never thought they would be in the Philippines again. And they were never(?) going to tell their child her TRUE nationality? Sorry, that's fucked up. The parents fucked up everything royally from day one. Well they've been lying to her from the start because they KNEW they were breaking the law! The girl will be fine. Maybe better off. At least she knows now that she is a Filipino. Whats wrong with that?
The parents seem ashamed and should have played it differently upon their return to Philly. They should have pleaded with the Philippines to help them. They could have utilized the nations collective spirit and launched a campaign for sympathy. Boo hoo hoo in Tagalo (I'm sure they remember SOME of it, uhg!)But I don't see much coming their way now. Not from me anyways.....No way.
Sorry, but I am sooo with Boldstar on this one.I despise over stayers because they cause so many problems for those people who are LAW ABIDING and waiting their turn patiently (like I did for 3 years in Europe for my EEC and 6 years in Australia for my third passport) I had immigration lawyers and I spent a fortune over the years including 1996 when my partner and I HAD to move to Chicago for one year because Australian law forbade me to apply for two extension on my original entry visa. It was a great year away, and I eventually got my passport! You have to do the time baby! So we ALL have to follow the law (even if it disrupts our lives for a while) for the incredible special gift, which is perm res status in a country other than your birth country.
Que jumpers are just that. Que jumpers. And when they are caught, they should be deported. No matter who you are or what country you are from.
I learned in Australia all I need to know about boarder protection and Immigration law. I am a very liberal person generally except when it comes to boarder protection. I have no sympathy for over stayers (que jumpers) regardless of their personnel 'dramz' OR the people who decide to come over on a boat.. thinking they will soon be viewing the Opera House (some clutching post cards), which of course they will never see. They compromise the integrity of any countries migration policy. Cheaters. Aliens Illegals. Boat people. Call them what you will. Do it the right way, and this will not happen.
side bar-
Anyone who can afford to pay a people smuggler 5000 American dollars to make our Australian waters, is NOT a priority for Australia immigration. For that amount they can buy a house a car and educate a child in some of their countries. THIS is NOT hardship!
Of course any humane country makes exceptions for REAL true refugees,and emergency immigration programs in times of special needs.
Deportation. It's quite simple and this happens in most secure countries with people who over stay their welcome (visa). I support Japans decision 100%. They can't get swept up in every case regardless whether or not children are involved. Japan is dog eat dog and very unemotional when it comes to these 'family' issues. It really is a hard core country when it comes to the heart.
If you make an exception for this Filipino couple or any other person, you will set some precedence which will always open the flood gates for many many other over stayers to seek permanent status which in effect makes a mockery of the Immigration Department of the country at question, in this case Japan.
Japan is simply staying..EVEN if you have a child here, we will still deport you. It's NOT the only country where this happens. MANY others have the same expulsion/deportation laws. Others might pay closer attention to this ruling and perhaps NOT premeditate the breakage of their gracious host countries laws. I'm sure this is Japans hope. That last thing they want is thousands of Filipinos coming over and getting pregnant and applying for this and that which then leads to family immigrating...... The Japs do not want a barrage.....no one does any more. The eighties are over. And so are the nineties.
From the very beginning, this couple was being dishonest therefore showing quite clearly that they had no respect whatsoever for Japans very decent Immigration laws.Japan sees this clearly hence the outcome.
I LOVE Japan Japanese people and all things Japanese but lets face it, these people are not known for their good history with 'humanity' when it comes to their treatment of their neighbors. They are also not as high strung like some other Asian races and quite defiant in the face of criticism..
WHALING as an example. I HATE the Japs for WHALING!! Poor things just swimming along, then HARPOON! It's VILE and the Japs will pay one day. Whale KARMA will get them!
The Japs are more, uhm, hmm, wound right tight when it comes to their emotions and their ability to show them. Very black and white the Japs..HUGE suicide rate, almost mind blowing..... but I ramble... They do not cry Catholic tears.....
The Japs do not cry unless Royalty dies.
Of course it sad for a child to be separated from his/her parents. But goodness, imagine the chaos if every country had a soft spine when it came to enforcing its own boarder laws.
The girl is with family now (a lovely auntie (is the auntie a Filipino? Or did they tell her she was a Jap too?hahahaha) I'm sure or why would she choose her over her parents?) and I'm sure she is safe and well. Yes the parents will miss her, but oh well, you have to pay the piper.....eventually.
I have no sympathy for the parents. I'm sorry.
MANY children all over the world are separated from their parents for many reasons MUCH worse than this. Let's be real here.
The parents are coming off as 'snobby. Is it just me? I know they have to stick to certain 'on the record rhetoric ' to bolster their case but at what cost? Alianating yourself from your birth country. A country that would normally welcome you back with open arms due to the familiarity with other Pinoy returning home once their visas have run out. It's common. The parents are being very Japanese and I detect a sense of superiority over their own race perhaps. Ashamed.
Lying to your child and telling her she is Japanese is quite strange. She is actually Japino now I guess.
No matter what the case, it's sad.
Just my opinion. Sorry BS my comment is longer than the post. hehehe.
your both correct... The parents are a-holes but the child merely wants to survive! she only speaks nipponggo and has imbibed the Japanese cuture. there is no way noriko can adjust in the philippines!
China and Korea want Japan to make a clearer apology for aggression and to pay the individuals whom it brutalized during the war.
While many people like RAIN B argue that there is no need for the country as a whole to apologize ,I say the Government should do more to show remorse for the war and to teach young people about atrocities committed by Japanese.
Even crying babies would shut up at the mention of the kenpeitai.
Let me relate to you a story: " A Japanese military surgeon decided to show a few medics how to remove an appendix. So he spread a sheet on a field, brought in a healthy Filipino baby, and put a mask over his nose to anesthetize him. The surgeon cut the BABY open, removed his appendix and sewed him back up. Then, the lesson over, the surgeon pulled out a gun and shot and killed the baby."
So are you saying that because the Japanese were cruel during wartime (WARtime, ha?) the Pinoy couple no longer violated Japanese immigration laws?
There is a legal term for this, if you want equity, you must come to court with clean hands. This means that although there is no law that prevents the separation of families, in order to obtain mercy, you must be blameless in bringing about the situation. You cannot be like the murderer who kills his parents then begs mercy from the court on the ground that he is an orphan.
The poster is right, you do the crime, you do the time.
‘Valiente Filipina!’ I would wonder why other wailing children who had hurt themselves would be kissed and consoled with tender endearments, while I was forced to suppress my tears, dust myself off and remember I was Filipina.
Why did being Filipino include so much pain and suffering?
It took me a long time to realize that all those displays of tough, patriotic love were meant to inoculate me against the rigors that face all other Filipinos.”
Along with the courage, irreverence continues to crackle in Chitang Nakpil, the legacy of a distinguished clan of indio ilustrado patriots aptly named “Guerrero” – warrior. Its meaning was not earned cheaply: “I was raised among men who had either known Rizal at the Ateneo, or watched him face the firing squad on the Luneta...
it's obvious, the parents are abusive and they are just using their daughter. they are also hypocrites. those kind of parents don't deserve to live. they are a*shol*s.
This is not to say I dont feel for the thirteen year old, but yes, she does have the bear the consequences of her parents' actions. Same with Ted Failon's kids, if he killed his wife, he has to go to jail, even if his daughters will be left without parents.
Tokyo has generally refused to pay damages to individuals for the war, saying the issue was settled between governments in postwar treaties. The left-wing women's group Gabriela, which joined Friday's protest on the 63rd anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II, criticized the Philippine government for not acting on a draft resolution seeking Japan's apology that has been filed in the House of Representatives.
R. J. Rummel, University of Hawaii, states that between 1937 and 1945, the Japanese military murdered from nearly 10,000,000 people, most likely Chinese, Koreans, Filipinos...
The number of people killed by your beloved Japs is bigger than your entire country Brian Gorrell!
You don't have to look far to see why Chinese grow up learning to hate Japan. Take the forthcoming children's movie, "Little Soldier Zhang," . The film chronicles the adventures in the 1930s of Little Zhang, a cute 12-year-old boy feeling his way through an unfriendly world. But the resemblance to Pinocchio ends there. After Japanese invaders shoot Little Zhang's grandmother in the back, the boy seeks revenge by joining an underground Red Army detachment. He moves among heroic Chinese patriots, sniveling collaborators and sadistic Japanese. The finale comes with Little Zhang helping blow up a trainload of Japanese soldiers and receiving a cherished reward: a pistol with which to kill more Japanese. "I thought about including one sympathetic Japanese character, but this is an anti-Japan war movie and I don't want to confuse anyone," says Sun, who will premier his film on International Children's Day.
amiel, actually they should have deported the daughter as well. japan doesnt subscribe to jus soli. therefore noriko is not a japanese citizen. it was an act of humanity for the japanese govt to let her stay which was the family's choice because that's the only life she has ever known. japan didnt force the separation. it was the family's choice.
The new book “Fighting for Foreigners: Immigration and Its Impact on Japanese Democracy” by USC professor Apichai Shipper
Shipper coins the term “associative activism” to describe how the presence of poorly treated immigrants has led Japanese citizens in recent years to push the local and national government to adopt new policies, thereby advancing social democracy in Japan.
Japan is now the only country in Asia to provide legal channels to permanent residency for illegal immigrants. Moreover, Japan is the only country in Asia to offer public education even to the children of illegal foreigners.
Nongovernmental organizations headed by Japanese citizens speaking on behalf of illegal immigrants have successfully pressured the government to adopt a plan to combat human trafficking, to grant certain overstayed foreigners “special residence permission” and to extend national health insurance to certain foreigners.
Over a four-year period beginning in 2000, Japan granted permanent residence to more than 40,000 illegal immigrants. negotiate a new social contract with citizens for all those who reside on their islands.”
I think that we ought to separate the two issues. That Japan was vicious and cruel during World War II and that it refuses to pay reparations to our comfort women are uncontested facts.
But it is also an uncontested fact that the Calderons violated immigration laws of Japan.
Maybe this country ought to enter into an agreement with Japan to provide Filipinos with exemptions to the immigrations laws. But there is no such agreement in existence. What then would compel Japan to abandon its immigration laws for this Pinoy couple?
If you argue equity or in the interests of humanity, no one is forcing the child to stay in Japan. No one is separating the parents from their child. If anything, it is the Calderons who are bringing this onto themselves. If they feel it is so important to stay together, then they should all come back to the Philippines with their daughter.
Since their daughter has obtained rights to live in Japan, she can always return for higher education. Nothing bars her from returning.
I also don't see how the Japanese bureaucracy is not compassionate since the Calderons were not immediately deported in 2006 and let them stay in the country and plead their case until a special exception was made to permit Noriko to stay in Japan.
of course the Japanese government had compassion.
Noriko herself is fatalistic about the whole matter when she said that its not like they will never see each other again.
and BTW she will be looked after well because the Japanese people have raised money for her education and living costs.
He used fake docs to enter japan means intentionally right from the beginning na talikuran nya ang bayang sinilangan and now after 13yrs he could not understand tagalog anymore?arsehole, he despised our country and the feeling is mutual we call it in Ilocano "Agraraman nga uki-nana" lol. kung itinakwil na nila ang pilipinas,bakit pa sila bumalik?dahil obviously wala naman silang ibang pupuntahan? I dont have any small sympathy for this kind of people.
FYI... The Japanese engaged in CANNIBALISM in the Philippines and ate hundreds of men, women and BABIES!
And Boldstar the circumstances pointthat all captured Australians were immediately executed by the Japanese. Even more horrifying, is that the Japanese killed and ate captured Australians when they had not exhausted their own food supplies.As the Australians pursued the retreating Japanese along the Kokoda Track, they came upon evidence that the Japanese had been eating captured Australian soldiers.
O yeah, right... tell that to the Calderons. The Japanese are cannibals and yet they (the Calderons) want to stay in Japan, for what? To get eaten? And the daughter wants to stay in Japan to do what? emulate the Japanese people so she can be a flesh eater too?
Clearly the Calderons do not agree with the sweeping assesments of the allegedly cannibalistic, vicious, evil character of the Japanese people that some commenters here would like to make.
If they are as evil as you guys say they are, then the least they could do is deport the whole family and be done with it. The most siguro, according to you guys is to eat them...
Oh, and yeah, if the Japanese have a history of violating children's rights, then all the more it doesnt make sense for the Calderon daughter to want to stay in Japan, di ba?
come on let us argue on the validity of the propositions of clemency and granting residency to illegal immigrants.
not on the past. because if thats the highway you want to travel let me put this fact to you.
Japan was nuked both hiroshima and nagasaki with catastrophic losses of many NON-combatants.
The population took it as payment if youd call it that for the sins of their people.
of course Japan and even Germany continue to feel shame for the sins of their fathers and mothers and noone can imagine the terror many people suffered.
but we cannot expect to visit someones house uninvited stay hiding in their attic and come down after a few years and expect to own parts of it.
right?
and the argument that becasue the previous owners of the house were cannibals eating children that somehow concessions SHOULD be made to allow the ATTIC dwellers to own the house does not make sense.
you guys are mad......
i would have expected that the Calderons are smart enough to have bought a land and house somewhere else just in case they get sprung upon by the homeowners.
Boldie's right. Regardless of what we think of the Japanese, the Calderon's don't deserve a break. Noriko's gonna be fine. She can always claim, "My parents are dynamite!". TNT kasi...(lol).
Ignorant immigrants usually make the mistake of expecting the foreign country they're in to adapt to their culture (remember the "tabo" shitter?). Stupid idiots like that who refuse to adapt to their foreign home don't deserve to migrate anywhere. Dito nalang sila.
...and don't forget to add wasabi when dining on babies...adds more pungency to the flavor. ;)
Boldstar... you are the fucking QUEEN of this blog (no offence Rain, hehe)! BRILLIANT and ALWAYS 100% on the money! Girl, it must be that sweet Australian air/nectar!
Japan is an amazing country full of amazing people. Have you been there propaganda man with your bullshit baby eating links? Thank you J for clearing that up. I HATE it when some Filipinos can't get 'past' ANCIENT shit! THE JAPS WERE FUCKING NUKED for Christs sakes!!!! Hundreds of thousands of death are not enough for you!! Reparations have been MET! It's called war and shit happens, right? Too many THOUSANDS OF INNOCENT HUMAN BEINGS SNUFFED OUT in minutes. PLEASE look past your selfish ignorant archaic points of view and stop re writing history! PATHETIC YOU ARE!!! It's 2009 NOT 1948 I have been to Japan..... seven times....and it's amazing trust me. Shall we punish the NEW Japanese for what happened in the war?
Please.... don't throw stones in your glass house.
Eating babies, PATHETIC attempt at pathetic rubbish. Ignoramus!
It's people like YOU that hold the Philippines back. Japan was vicious? What about America? Clean your own doorstep before you start citing the ails of others. Testing nuclear bombs on innocent human beings...
Jintaro Ishida knows his country's guilty secrets. Like few other Japanese, he knows in detail about the atrocities of World War II, and he knows of the quiet torment of the aging veterans who took part.
He knows, for example, about the massacre at the well in the Philippine village of Lipa, where 400 people were thrown to their deaths. The blood lust of the soldiers ran so high, he says, that one of them smashed a rock onto the head of a woman who was combing her hair.
Mr. Ishida, 79, who served in the navy during the war, is tortured by the scenes, as if he himself had taken part. He rises in agitation as he describes them, waving his arms as if combing his hair, then whipping them downward like a crazed soldier flinging a stone.
Over the past decade, Mr. Ishida, a retired schoolteacher, has made it his self-assigned mission to search out the scenes of massacres in the Philippines, to interview survivors, then to return to Japan to coax from the silent veterans their guiltiest memories.
He seems driven by a compulsion to overcome the ignorance of his countrymen, which he says he shared. ''A country with no self-criticism cannot heal itself,'' he said in an interview here. ''Even if you were born after the war, you still shoulder the history of your country.''
Like the single-minded researchers of the Nazi Holocaust, he is determined that history not be forgotten. Unlike those Jewish researchers, though, Mr. Ishida represents the victimizers rather than the victims.
But in a nation that steadfastly turns its face away from the most shameful episodes of its past, Mr. Ishida's is one voice that nobody wants to hear.
He has written and published two books of the accounts of the soldiers and their victims and has led a small number of Japanese on a half-dozen tours to see for themselves. But he has made almost no impact at home. Few Japanese have read his books or know his name.
''He is a very unusual man,'' said F. Sionil Jose, a leading Philippine author who wrote an afterword to Mr. Ishida's more recent book. ''The fact is that even though he is not well known, he is doing something heroic. My own feeling is, he is hounded by feelings of guilt.''
With his small pack, his plastic water bottle and his baseball cap, he has journeyed alone to remote villages, where he was sometimes threatened by survivors who are still angry at the Japanese.
Then, back at home, he has traveled the country accosting and interviewing nearly 100 former soldiers who took part in the crimes.
Some of the veterans refused to talk to him. Others confessed secrets they had never even told their wives. Some told him later that their meetings with him had left them with nightmares.
In plain language and painstaking detail, Mr. Ishida's books present the words of both the Filipinos and the Japanese he interviewed, along with his own anguished reactions. In small, obscure printings, ignored by newspaper reviewers, the books spent only a few weeks in bookstores before being removed from the shelves.
Japan's refusal to acknowledge its wartime crimes was highlighted recently by the publication of textbooks that gloss over the past and by the visit of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to the Yasukuni Shrine, which honors fallen Japanese soldiers.
That visit has drawn strong condemnation from nations invaded by Japan, like China, Korea, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines.
''Koizumi felt sorry for the young Japanese who died in the war,'' Mr. Ishida said. ''But young people all around Asia died too. It is not enough to pray only for the soldiers of your own country.''
Mr. Ishida is one of a small corps of researchers who are swimming against the tide of ignorance in Japan. A former newspaper reporter named Katsuichi Honda has published research about war crimes in China. A professor named Aiko Utsumi has researched war crimes committed in Indonesia.
Like many other Japanese, Mr. Ishida said, he had been ignorant of the dark side of his country's history -- of the massacres, sexual slavery, forced labor and the use of chemical and biological warfare.
The issue here is the parents using the child as a shield against deportation not Japanese war crimes.
the problem with us Filipinos is that we confuse justice with being compassionate. They broke the law they have to own up to the consequences no matter how harsh. look at other countries they strictly enforce their laws thats why their citizens are disciplined what about our people here?
On the subject of Japanese war crimes while it is true the Japanese did some pretty nasty stuff they have suffered and paid for it both in lives and in cash. It is time that we move along and forget citing events that happened more than 50 years ago. What we need to do is stop the rabble rousing and focus on more pressing problems.
Understand that Japan never denied their shortcomings in history. They were nuked as well. They bounced back with great unity. They put their internal differences behind, now they have a good system. They honor laws and agreements.
Same goes to South Korea who suffered a lot too and they bounced back.
What about us Filipinos? I love this country but for as long as we highly criticize our differences (including petty ones) in all aspects, we'll be staying in the same pile of crap.
As a friend said, cooperation and compromise is very difficult to the sane. For the insane, it is never attainable. So, let's be sane with things. No society is perfect but hey, positive changes can be done.
"Japan's refusal to acknowledge its wartime crimes was highlighted recently by the publication of textbooks that gloss over the past and by the visit of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to the Yasukuni Shrine, which honors fallen Japanese soldiers..."
Anonymous said... "Japan's refusal to acknowledge its wartime crimes was highlighted recently by the publication of textbooks that gloss over the past and by the visit of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to the Yasukuni Shrine, which honors fallen Japanese soldiers..."
har har har I must say some of these comments here are way out of the topic... From someone inside (have been living in Japan for almost ten years), I agree with Boldstar and Brian's comments. Your observations are very insightful for gaikokujins (foreigners). First, the case of the Calderon's should be a lesson to all of us that crime really does not pay (maybe only in the Philippines). Second, the faults of Japan (past and present) is another matter. I can write an entire blog about it or reply to all the other comments here but I think this isn't the correct forum.
If they pretended to be Japanese and disowned the Philippines. The Philippines should disown them too! Sila ang nauna! Tingnan lang natin kung saan sila mapadpad niyan! The immigration department shouldn't have let them enter the country noh!!
No one forgets their mother tongue, that's crap!!
Found it insulting that they only spoke to Japanese media at the airport.
I left the Philippines when I was 16 years old to live in the U.S.(I'm now 31) and I can definitely still speak and understand Tagalog!
I encounter Filipinos all the time who claim, after living wherever for as few as 3 years, that they can no longer speak in their native tongue and I think it's a load of crap. Liar, liar, pants on fire!
I live in Japan and have been here for 6 years now. I have been following the Calderons case because of the media frenzy that they brought to themselves even asking help from Amnesty International. Gosh, I think if they didn't bring too much media into their case the Immigration would have sympathy on their side and get that special residency visa. Japanese Immigration is "strict" but they have compassion too if you just don't bring media frenzy to your side. I have friends whose case is like their case both filipinos, married even have 3 kids here in Japan but because they didn't bring the media into their case they got that special residency visa they been wanting too.
Japan Immigration is strict but it's a case-to-case basis. Lastly, I do not have compassion for these people denouncing their Filipino roots! I don't even believe that their daughter doesn't speak nor understand Tagalog!! That's utter BS!!! Good thing they're back there in Tondo and I don't see them in TV News here anymore as I'm getting sick of the attention they brought to themselves!
Like many other younger Japanese, the new government had been IGNORANT of the dark side of his country's history -- of the MASSACRES, SEXUAL SLAVERY, use of chemical and biological warfare...
I URGE THE SMART (Victorina has a handful)PEOPLE OF VICTORINA TO KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN and READ YOUR HISTORY BOOKS.
The PHILIPPINES used to be one of ASIA'S RICHEST COUNTRY before the Japanese invaded us!
Japan committed serious crimes to humanity so we should be vigilant!
This post has 4 issues that I would like to address separately. Please bear with me as this may be barely related the the Calderon but what the heck. I would like to point though that I am not a historian but merely a bystander who have visited Japan on 2 occassions.
Dear:Anonymous Gina Reysio-Cruz
Like many other younger Japanese, the new government had been IGNORANT of the dark side of his country's history -- of the MASSACRES, SEXUAL SLAVERY, use of chemical and biological warfare...
reply: yes thats true. however you have to examine why contextually. Japan as a culture is centred to its core by "haji" or shame differentiating from the western "guilt" based culture from personal actions. The wide difference is that the Japanese feeling of shame is an external feeling that is why the society in the past and at present have always been very conforming to the ideals of society.
Shame is just as good as dead. that's why in the 80's when japans economic prosperity slide there were horrendous suicides among top executives.
however increasingly more and more people have become aware. further, don't make the sins of their forefathers be a tool for moral ascendancy on your part.
_________________________________
I URGE THE SMART (Victorina has a handful)PEOPLE OF VICTORINA TO KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN and READ YOUR HISTORY BOOKS.
REPLY:
Thats your opinion to insult and be backhanded with your compliment.
I can assure you though that the Victorina Council is fully jolted whenever an article is posted.
This Calderon case has nothing to do with history. Because if it does then what is happening in Mindanao NOW can be on your blood and the blood of your offrings in generations to come whether they denounce their Filipino heritage or not.
the military murderers operating in Mindanao are rampant. Should I therefore extend the blame from the administrations in past and present to you and your family? _________________________________
The PHILIPPINES used to be one of ASIA'S RICHEST COUNTRY before the Japanese invaded us!
reply: you need to go back and re-read history.
hahahahahahaha what about corruption, cronyism
Taiwan was under Japanese Rule. they were pillage. they are economically advance.
We and the whole of the Philippines are entitled to haul ourselves up from the mess aren't we? Should we continuously blame our predicament to what Japan did to us in the four years of occupation and forever lament what could have been and roll over like a pig in the mud without having to make ourselves be responsible?
and moreover, when Spain sold us to the Americans in the treaty of PAris it wasnt until 50 years later that the americans signed the treaty of manila.
__________________________________
Japan committed serious crimes to humanity so we should be vigilant!
reply:
oh yes be vigilant. if history would teach all of us a lesson is that by being vigilant one can prevent atrocities but don't tell me that right now atrocities against innocent filipinos in Minadanao have not been commited.
that's the current battle we need to fight. in our own backyard.
I hope though you are not driving around in a mercedes, audi or bmw? Are you going to do the same for Germany?
____________________________________
in answering this points i came to conclude that these points have nothing to do with the illegal status of the Calderon's.
There is no point of contention nor there should be any discussion on the Calderon's deportation. They knowingly broke the law and were aware of Japan's Immigration policies.
The only thing questionable is the family denouncing their descent and the fact that they are Filipinos and their use of the media. It is their personal choice to do it though but what has it got them nothing but "bad publicity" and the tendency to be ostracized by most Filipinos.
Kung magyayabang lang naman as a Filipino huwag yong deportado ka, kundi you have done something good for the world whether it is cleaning, computer programming, singing or dancing at ano-ano pa as long as you make your country proud and you are not ashame to say "ako ay Filipino". We are not as bad as a people and as a country.
According to this article http://www.japanprobe.com/?p=9880 Arlan Calderon can speak Tagalog but cannot speak English. He further explains that they tried to teach their daughter Tagalog but never learned.
It also said that the Japanese government has already stated that it will allow the Calderons to make short visits to see their daughter. (Under normal circumstances, foreigners who illegally enter Japan are banned from re-entering the country for five years.)
I have been here in the US for years and years and I haven't had much opportunity to speak Filipino since my profession involves me dealing with Americans and a purely English-speaking group. However, I got my post-graduate degree in Manila before I migrated. I was in my mid20s then. I also have friends who migrated in their early 20s, and while we now tend to speak English more than Filipino, we are still able to talk (and cuss) very fluently in the vernacular. My tita has been working here as a bank manager since 1973, and by jove, she still speaks Filipino like she's never left Manila.
To hear this idiotic couple, who illegally migrated to another country in their 20s (like me), declaring that they cannot understand nor speak Filipino anymore is a f***in' load of bullcrap. Mastery of a language occurs before 10 years old, and while you may get a little rusty with the spoken language, the understanding of it doesn't completely go away. Maybe some alien from outerspace took a real big magnet and wiped their temporal lobes clear of data?
And what exactly are they so snooty about? Do they actually think that being a TNT (and in Japan, for god's sakes) affords them a better social stratum than the rest of Filipino society in general? Maybe someone should b*tchslap this couple--reality check: NAKAKAHIYA KAYO, AND YOU SHOWED THE REST OF THE WORLD WHAT POOR EXCUSES YOU ARE AS HUMAN BEINGS. No one thinks you're more sosyal or intellectual dahil nag-TNT kayo sa Japan. And shame on you for treating your fellow Filipinos as second-rate citizens. You didn't have to go back to the Philippines--if staying in Manila was so horrendous to you guys you should have migrated somewhere else, I don't think the Philippine government will try very hard to stop you anyway. All your insistence in speaking only to Japanese press and your wanting a Japanese translator when you're being interviewed doesn't really achieve anything except make you more of a laughingstock than you are now.
Good luck in trying to look for a job in Manila. Mag japayuki na lang kayo, tutal Japanese lang naman ang naiintindihan ninyo kuno.
BTW...I don't think modern Japan owes anything more to the rest of the world than a sincere, heartfelt apology. So to bring up the sins of fathers in order to rationalize someone else's mistakes is wrong.
At pwede ba...kailan ba naging Japanese ang apelyidong "Calderon"? The kid never noticed that the name is different from the rest of her classmates? Ay, pwede ba?
BTW...I don't think modern Japan owes anything more to the rest of the world than a sincere, heartfelt apology. So to bring up the sins of fathers in order to rationalize someone else's mistakes is wrong.
___________________________
Well said!
Unfortunately, a number of people just DON'T get it...Duh!
We are PETT. People for the Ethical Treatment of TNTs, we are here to protest the unethical treatment of the Calderons. They must be granted citizenship by the Japanese govt due to the fact that the JAPANESE are our cousins!! because their grandfathers raped our grandmothers during WW2!
Illegal immigrants are present in any countries around the world mainly for economic reasons. In the United States for example, immigration is a topic too big to ignore and there are no perfect solutions to this problem. However, the problem with illegal immigrants just like the Calderons is that they feel a sense of entitlement to be in Japan even from very beginning they knew that what they did was illegal. And now they can't speak Filipino? Oh please give me break? Granted, he's fluent in Nihongo, he's still an illegal immigrant who happened to be deported. Huli! Magpakatotoo ka brother!
Kapal naman ng pagmumukha ng Arlan na ito. Nakatungtong lang sa Japan biglang nagkaamnesia kaya di na nakakapag tagalog. Ulol! Parang mga ibang pinoy din sa states, isang taon pa lang nakalimutan ng magtagalog. Sino lokohin nyo. Halatang pilit na pilit pa ang accent. Naman....
i must agree with the writer... when i first read their story, i felt that what happened to them was really unfair.. but now, their true colors are showing... i just abhor such pretensions... kamusta naman na hindi na niya alam magtagalog, kung mid-20's na siya ng nag-TNT? efekera!! eww.. yak...
First of all, they are law-breakers regardless of their economic situation. The Calderon's broke the law, and are now getting the treatment they deserve...simple as that.
According to this article http://www.japanprobe.com/?p=9880 Arlan Calderon can speak Tagalog but cannot speak English. __________________________________
THANKS DOK!
this website got this article from philstar.com, NOONE ELSE MENTIONED HE SPOKE TAGALOG....
but of course he speaks tagalog...
UPDATE: Guys geys and girls philstar reported that Mr Calderon Speaks TAGALOG. published april 15 Rudy Santos said that Arlan uttered these words in TAGALOG:
“One day, three Japanese police came to our house to tell us that we’re being arrested and questioned for overstaying,” Arlan said in Tagalog.
As I said they (or more specifically) Mr calderon is pretending .......
of course he knows how to speak tagalog. the post never implied that he doesnt but rather that he took the pretense angle as a means of enhancing his objectives of being granted Japanese residency. Nobody in their right mind believed he doesnt know Tagalog, even tinny weeny bit.
but thanks to DOK he speaks Tagalog. its one of those tales like the one he had told CNN that they are from a farming community. but some media reported they are from Tondo.
i dont pity them. many filipinos are also staying illegally in the middle east, and when they decide to go home and submit themselves to the immigration, they have to pay for the years they have over stayed in that country, others who cannot afford to pay have to be jailed for a certain period. buti nga sila hindi na sila ikinulong at dineport na lang agad.
hahaha. pakyung yawa cla. tau ngppkahirap mgbyad ng tax d2 tapos cla biglang su2lpot claiming government assistant when they have not invested any single fucking cent/yen to our government. puta**a nila. (excuse my language. : )
So what if he cannot speak the Pilipino language or dialects. He can probably work at the Japanese Embassy, Japan Airlines or any authentic Japanese restaurants if he so qualifies. Or, he probably accumulated tons of yens by being a TNT for thirteen years. The thing is he has nowhere to go but the country he left behind, the language he forgot to speak and the people he does not want to be associated. If he does not want to go back to his mother country, then he can go to hell.
hi my name is amiel too i am a girl and my name is a boy name i do speak tagalog po but i can't read and write tagalog po blah blah blah..................................................
the fact that the japanese committed unspeakable atrocities during the 2nd world war is beside the point, it doesn't entitle the victims, particularly us filipinos, exception to their immigration policies.
and as for the consequences that the child has to suffer... e nagsimula sa mali e, aasahan mo bang mamunga ng tama? kasalanan ng mga magulang nya yon, hindi ng japanese government (or should i translate this to nihonggo so the hypocritical calderons will understand)
if they're so horrible as a people in the first place e bakit atat na atat ang iba sa atin na magTNT sa kanila? what does it say of us then?
Our end is an egalitarian society where gaps due to class, age, sex, religion, and race hardly exist.
Our foremost advocacy is to put key sectors of society under scrutiny to identify and denounce all forms of debauchery and pretensions.
Our battleground is the internet and the ever expanding online community.
Our weapon is the power of words fiercely protected by the freedom of speech.
Our mode of engagement is the open forum where we welcome all opinions, arguments, expositions and presentation of facts towards a greater consensus, on which we stand together to render our collective judgment.
Our fight is within the bounds of what is humane, moral and legal; we are here not to destroy but to transform.
Our readership is a community of men and women from all sectors of society and from all walks of life.
We are diverse, but are one in our quest for unity and progress.
This is our world.
This is DONA VICTORINA!
Someone did slap her silly and she screamed “pesteng yawa, aray!”
sounds like Rain!
oh my... mr calderon sounds like Metro Society editor Raul Manzano !
wrong answer Mr.Calderon- you just lost Filipino support!
“I can no longer understand Tagalog”
maybe he is Ilokano?
Personal opinion lang po!
There is a bigger issue than immigration- that is violating the rights of children!
Personally I think that the separation of Noriko from her parents is a clear violation of Children’s rights... In fact the
ARCSEA , an organization of child rights advocates, is outraged with the Japanese Justice Ministry’s decision to deport Arlan and his wife.
Can you can imagine the fear, anxiety and sadness of the 13-year old girl ?
PERSONAL OPINION LANG PO!
amiel
James,
Pesteng yawa ka doy ha. Kukulamin kita pag gagamiting mo ulit pangalan ko.
(Trust me I can do that)
Anyway, mama boldstar, excellent exposition of your defense why you don't have any compassion for the Calderons.
Their story should be a case study on migration, especially in Japan
Rain
I kinda agree with Amiel. Clearly, this is not for the best interest of Noriko as a child because both choices, going to the Philippines with her parents or her parents will leave her alone in Japan, are not for her well-being!
teka teka what does Noriko have to do with all this.
She is a child!
Common imagine if she was your daughter. VICTORINA please have a heart!
rina
"Can you can imagine the fear, anxiety and sadness of the 13-year old girl ?"
Yes, I can. But I would like to know if that Calderons were FORCED by law to leave their child behind.
But as far as the media reported, the child CHOSE to remain with her Aunt.
From CNN:
"Calderon's parents, who illegally immigrated to Japan, expressed regret at their daughter's decision to remain in Japan with an aunt.
The couple's daughter said she hopes to prove to her parents that her decision was the right choice."
The law did not separate them. It was a personal decision which the parents should see as a consequence of an earlier decision they made.
Opinion lang pow
1. Psychologists have established that the crucial formative years is between birth to 12 years old. The probability of a post-trauma disorder because of parental separation is very minimal for a 13 year-old, who has her aunt.
2. This is not the middle ages when a child is completely disconnected. The telephones, YM, skype will connect them.
3. I know of a lot of OFWs who left their young children at home. Some manage to survive well and with the help of some people, grow up emotionally stable and healthy.
It is sad for a child to be separated from her parents, but making that as an excuse for circumventing the law is just too disagreeable.
If that is the case, then we should not imprison any criminal who has a child...same banana.
Opinion lang din
Dear Rain,
"Yes, I can. But I would like to know if that Calderons were FORCED by law to leave their child behind. ".... YES THEY WERE!
The Japanese government can at least give the Calderon couple a temporary stay till Noriko becomes an adult. I have lived in Japan and believe- living there at 13 years of age without loving parents is HARD!
Can you imagine living in Manila at 13 years of age without your parents?
Prostitution, drugs etc. are rampant in Japan and i SINCERELY PITY Noriko!
Hmmmmn...
Amiel
Amiel,
I don't have any doubts that it will be difficult for Noriko, and I too would have preferred that the Japanese government extended the stay.
I agree with you 100%
But Boldstar's bottomline is, we cannot fault a government for implementing a policy.
if there is pain in this family, it is a direct consequence of their earlier decision to TNT.
They took the risk, they gambled, they lost. Others won. But they lost.
While I have pity for the child, I am challenging the parents to create a long distance loving relationship because that is a consequence.
Rain
(And what's with the news that you have a bird flu?)
Rain,
THE NORIKO CASE is Different...
1. She (Noriko) thought she was Japanese!
2. Shall the child bear her parents sins?
3. What is a temporary visa for 5 more years till Noriko becomes an adult?
4. Didn't Japan rape our country and killed our children?
They retreated to Baguio and (Japanese) committed horrible crimes that normal human don't commit!
amiel
the Japanese treated the Filipino civilians barbarically. It is an astounding fact that while POWs died at a rate of 1.2% in Germany, they died at a rate of 37% across the Pacific.
The Japanese are the most barbaric race ever conceived by "god"!
Amiel,
That is one thing I am interested about regarding this case. I can understand why the Calderons would LIE to their daughter and tell her she is Japanese, that is easy. That is the best way to remain in hiding. The revelation of truth that her parents are illegal aliens may or may not be damaging, depending on how the parents handled the confrontation.
No, the child should not bear the sins of their parents, but the parents own, admit and be responsible for the consequences of those.
What is a temporary visa for 5 years? Nothing in the overall scheme of things for us. But for Japan, I would think they are making a policy statement.
Yes, Japan's parents raped our country and killed our children. Should their children bear those sins their parents commit?
Is our idea of justice be measured that way?
I am not an immigrant, the only times I have lived abroad were as a development volunteer in two continents. So i can never claim that I understand illegal immigration.
But Boldstar can.
The Japanese are the most barbaric race ever conceived by "god"!
YUP when their resources run out, let them die in hell!
Every word counts and to perfect effect. Wow! A VERY BIG THANK YOU FOR THIS PIECE, BOLDSTAR. YOU MADE MY DAY. AND IT'S KINDA GETTING BORING AND SLEEPY AFTER HAVING LUNCH HERE AT THE OFFICE.(side note: so true, one will never ever lose one's native tongue. on my first big snow experience here in dc, the morning after; the driveway had to be shovelled off. some parts were frozen. i slipped... and automatically "aguidoy! aguidoy!" (waray term for ouch)came rushing out between my teeth. hahahahaha. can't forget the stunned/quizzical look on my kano neighbors' faces. hahahahaha
hi guys,
am confused. let me see if i got this right.
1. the calderons went to japan using fake documents.
2. the calderons got caught after 13 years and got deported.
3. the calderons have a 13 year old daughter who opted to stay with a relative in japan.
4. now, the calderons pleaded with the japanese authorities to give them "time" until noriko's reaches the age of majority.
here's my take. the calderons broke japan's laws and should suffer the consequences.
now, they ask clemency so as not to be separated from their 13 year old daughter.
i don't think the law forced them to separate. the option of taking the child with them to the phils was never taken out of the equation. they chose to leave the child.
why didn't they choose that? why did they leave the child there? obviously, they are using their child so they can go back to japan in the hopes they stay in japan legally next time they go.
well, they can't have it both ways. they gambled and lost. pay the piper.
like they say, if you can't do the time, don't do the crime.
sincere reaction to amiel's opinion: being still a minor,how about taking the daughter back to the philippines to avoid the separation dilemma. the child can always go back when she grows older if she so desire being a japanese citizen. for a happy ending she may find a way in petitioning her parents as japanese immigrants. remember "Somebody Up There Works in Mysterious Ways".
nakakainis, nakakagigil. mga taksil sa bayan at pariwarang mga magulang.
I despise people like this. This kind of attitude contributes to elitism and it's a huge problem. As far as I'm concerned, her parents deserved to be deported. That's what tends to happen if authorities find out you're in a country illegally. Yes, it's sad that the child got left behind but she's being taken care of by an aunt.
I have no sympathy for the parents. A tinge of pinoy empathy...maybe, but that's it.
And the teenager? Please, at thirteen, MANY kids are separted from their folks. I was and I did fine!
The parents have ruined the child's life for the moment EXPOSING her to the fierce Jap press for SIX months now and whatever else to save their own behinds from deportation to their OWN country just a few hours away.. They were using their daughter its plain to see. I'm sure she was pleased to have a break from the fierce media attention she was under before they were booted out. I read she is 'slipping' back into her 'normal' life again which is great for her. Why should she have to be DRAGGED into their terrible decisions years later, disrupting her schooling social network and her true sense of self.(did she ever have one?) The parents fucked up big time and never truly put their daughter first. They just hate the Philippines and think they are ABOVE it now. I can smell their displeasure from here.
I bet you they never thought they would be in the Philippines again.
And they were never(?) going to tell their child her TRUE nationality? Sorry, that's fucked up. The parents fucked up everything royally from day one.
Well they've been lying to her from the start because they KNEW they were breaking the law!
The girl will be fine. Maybe better off.
At least she knows now that she is a Filipino.
Whats wrong with that?
The parents seem ashamed and should have played it differently upon their return to Philly. They should have pleaded with the Philippines to help them. They could have utilized the nations collective spirit and launched a campaign for sympathy. Boo hoo hoo in Tagalo (I'm sure they remember SOME of it, uhg!)But I don't see much coming their way now. Not from me anyways.....No way.
Sorry, but I am sooo with Boldstar on this one.I despise over stayers because they cause so many problems for those people who are LAW ABIDING and waiting their turn patiently (like I did for 3 years in Europe for my EEC and 6 years in Australia for my third passport) I had immigration lawyers and I spent a fortune over the years including 1996 when my partner and I HAD to move to Chicago for one year because Australian law forbade me to apply for two extension on my original entry visa. It was a great year away, and I eventually got my passport! You have to do the time baby!
So we ALL have to follow the law (even if it disrupts our lives for a while) for the incredible special gift, which is perm res status in a country other than your birth country.
Que jumpers are just that. Que jumpers. And when they are caught, they should be deported.
No matter who you are or what country you are from.
I learned in Australia all I need to know about boarder protection and Immigration law. I am a very liberal person generally except when it comes to boarder protection. I have no sympathy for over stayers (que jumpers) regardless of their personnel 'dramz' OR the people who decide to come over on a boat.. thinking they will soon be viewing the Opera House (some clutching post cards), which of course they will never see.
They compromise the integrity of any countries migration policy.
Cheaters.
Aliens
Illegals.
Boat people.
Call them what you will.
Do it the right way, and this will not happen.
side bar-
Anyone who can afford to pay a people smuggler 5000 American dollars to make our Australian waters, is NOT a priority for Australia immigration. For that amount they can buy a house a car and educate a child in some of their countries. THIS is NOT hardship!
Of course any humane country makes exceptions for REAL true refugees,and emergency immigration programs in times of special needs.
Deportation.
It's quite simple and this happens in most secure countries with people who over stay their welcome (visa). I support Japans decision 100%. They can't get swept up in every case regardless whether or not children are involved. Japan is dog eat dog and very unemotional when it comes to these 'family' issues. It really is a hard core country when it comes to the heart.
If you make an exception for this Filipino couple or any other person, you will set some precedence which will always open the flood gates for many many other over stayers to seek permanent status which in effect makes a mockery of the Immigration Department of the country at question, in this case Japan.
Japan is simply staying..EVEN if you have a child here, we will still deport you. It's NOT the only country where this happens. MANY others have the same expulsion/deportation laws.
Others might pay closer attention to this ruling and perhaps NOT premeditate the breakage of their gracious host countries laws. I'm sure this is Japans hope. That last thing they want is thousands of Filipinos coming over and getting pregnant and applying for this and that which then leads to family immigrating...... The Japs do not want a barrage.....no one does any more.
The eighties are over.
And so are the nineties.
From the very beginning, this couple was being dishonest therefore showing quite clearly that they had no respect whatsoever for Japans very decent Immigration laws.Japan sees this clearly hence the outcome.
I LOVE Japan Japanese people and all things Japanese but lets face it, these people are not known for their good history with 'humanity' when it comes to their treatment of their neighbors. They are also not as high strung like some other Asian races and quite defiant in the face of criticism..
WHALING as an example. I HATE the Japs for WHALING!! Poor things just swimming along, then HARPOON! It's VILE and the Japs will pay one day. Whale KARMA will get them!
The Japs are more, uhm, hmm, wound right tight when it comes to their emotions and their ability to show them. Very black and white the Japs..HUGE suicide rate, almost mind blowing..... but I ramble...
They do not cry Catholic tears.....
The Japs do not cry unless Royalty dies.
Of course it sad for a child to be separated from his/her parents. But goodness, imagine the chaos if every country had a soft spine when it came to enforcing its own boarder laws.
The girl is with family now (a lovely auntie (is the auntie a Filipino? Or did they tell her she was a Jap too?hahahaha) I'm sure or why would she choose her over her parents?) and I'm sure she is safe and well. Yes the parents will miss her, but oh well, you have to pay the piper.....eventually.
I have no sympathy for the parents.
I'm sorry.
MANY children all over the world are separated from their parents for many reasons MUCH worse than this. Let's be real here.
The parents are coming off as 'snobby. Is it just me? I know they have to stick to certain 'on the record rhetoric ' to bolster their case but at what cost?
Alianating yourself from your birth country. A country that would normally welcome you back with open arms due to the familiarity with other Pinoy returning home once their visas have run out. It's common.
The parents are being very Japanese and I detect a sense of superiority over their own race perhaps. Ashamed.
Lying to your child and telling her she is Japanese is quite strange. She is actually Japino now I guess.
No matter what the case, it's sad.
Just my opinion.
Sorry BS my comment is longer than the post. hehehe.
But I could write about immigration for WEEKS!!!
your both correct... The parents are a-holes but the child merely wants to survive!
she only speaks nipponggo and has imbibed the Japanese cuture. there is no way noriko can adjust in the philippines!
We are a such forgiving race!
China and Korea want Japan to make a clearer apology for aggression and to pay the individuals whom it brutalized during the war.
While many people like RAIN B argue that there is no need for the country as a whole to apologize ,I say the Government should do more to show remorse for the war and to teach young people about atrocities committed by Japanese.
Even crying babies would shut up at the mention of the kenpeitai.
Let me relate to you a story: " A Japanese military surgeon decided to show a few medics how to remove an appendix. So he spread a sheet on a field, brought in a healthy Filipino baby, and put a mask over his nose to anesthetize him. The surgeon cut the BABY open, removed his appendix and sewed him back up. Then, the lesson over, the surgeon pulled out a gun and shot and killed the baby."
The baby was my uncle.
Chitang Nakpil (mom of Amiel's friend Lizza Nakpil) would not even stand close to a Jap or even shake their hands. That's how brutal the Japanes were!
So are you saying that because the Japanese were cruel during wartime (WARtime, ha?) the Pinoy couple no longer violated Japanese immigration laws?
There is a legal term for this, if you want equity, you must come to court with clean hands. This means that although there is no law that prevents the separation of families, in order to obtain mercy, you must be blameless in bringing about the situation. You cannot be like the murderer who kills his parents then begs mercy from the court on the ground that he is an orphan.
The poster is right, you do the crime, you do the time.
‘Valiente Filipina!’ I would wonder why other wailing children who had hurt themselves would be kissed and consoled with tender endearments, while I was forced to suppress my tears, dust myself off and remember I was Filipina.
Why did being Filipino include so much pain and suffering?
It took me a long time to realize that all those displays of tough, patriotic love were meant to inoculate me against the rigors that face all other Filipinos.”
Along with the courage, irreverence continues to crackle in Chitang Nakpil, the legacy of a distinguished clan of indio ilustrado patriots aptly named “Guerrero” – warrior. Its meaning was not earned cheaply: “I was raised among men who had either known Rizal at the Ateneo, or watched him face the firing squad on the Luneta...
it's obvious, the parents are abusive and they are just using their daughter. they are also hypocrites. those kind of parents don't deserve to live. they are a*shol*s.
This is not to say I dont feel for the thirteen year old, but yes, she does have the bear the consequences of her parents' actions. Same with Ted Failon's kids, if he killed his wife, he has to go to jail, even if his daughters will be left without parents.
Tokyo has generally refused to pay damages to individuals for the war, saying the issue was settled between governments in postwar treaties. The left-wing women's group Gabriela, which joined Friday's protest on the 63rd anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II, criticized the Philippine government for not acting on a draft resolution seeking Japan's apology that has been filed in the House of Representatives.
THE JAPS SHOULD HAVE BEEN NUKED A LONG TIME AGO!
R. J. Rummel, University of Hawaii, states that between 1937 and 1945, the Japanese military murdered from nearly 10,000,000 people, most likely Chinese, Koreans, Filipinos...
The number of people killed by your beloved Japs is bigger than your entire country Brian Gorrell!
avocado avogado... the Japanese should show more COMPASSION to CHILDREN since they used to BAYONET babies in the Philippines!
duh?
You don't have to look far to see why Chinese grow up learning to hate Japan. Take the forthcoming children's movie, "Little Soldier Zhang," . The film chronicles the adventures in the 1930s of Little Zhang, a cute 12-year-old boy feeling his way through an unfriendly world. But the resemblance to Pinocchio ends there. After Japanese invaders shoot Little Zhang's grandmother in the back, the boy seeks revenge by joining an underground Red Army detachment. He moves among heroic Chinese patriots, sniveling collaborators and sadistic Japanese. The finale comes with Little Zhang helping blow up a trainload of Japanese soldiers and receiving a cherished reward: a pistol with which to kill more Japanese. "I thought about including one sympathetic Japanese character, but this is an anti-Japan war movie and I don't want to confuse anyone," says Sun, who will premier his film on International Children's Day.
This is off topic, but for the record, Amiel is right. I do not believe in the business of apologizing.
I don't believe that justice will be served by forgiveness and mercy.
RainB
I also have no sympathy for the parents. "Ang hindi marunong lumingon sa pinanggalingan ay hindi makakatungtong sa pinaroroonan?.
Why choose to talk only to Japanese media and not to Philippine media?
ka-cheapan! dapat sa mga 'yan huag ding tanggapin sa Pilipinas!
amiel,
actually they should have deported the daughter as well. japan doesnt subscribe to jus soli. therefore noriko is not a japanese citizen. it was an act of humanity for the japanese govt to let her stay which was the family's choice because that's the only life she has ever known. japan didnt force the separation. it was the family's choice.
thought i'd share this with you guys:
The new book “Fighting for Foreigners: Immigration and Its Impact on Japanese Democracy” by USC professor Apichai Shipper
Shipper coins the term “associative activism” to describe how the presence of poorly treated immigrants has led Japanese citizens in recent years to push the local and national government to adopt new policies, thereby advancing social democracy in Japan.
Japan is now the only country in Asia to provide legal channels to permanent residency for illegal immigrants. Moreover, Japan is the only country in Asia to offer public education even to the children of illegal foreigners.
Nongovernmental organizations headed by Japanese citizens speaking on behalf of illegal immigrants have successfully pressured the government to adopt a plan to combat human trafficking, to grant certain overstayed foreigners “special residence permission” and to extend national health insurance to certain foreigners.
Over a four-year period beginning in 2000, Japan granted permanent residence to more than 40,000 illegal immigrants.
negotiate a new social contract with citizens for all those who reside on their islands.”
I think that we ought to separate the two issues. That Japan was vicious and cruel during World War II and that it refuses to pay reparations to our comfort women are uncontested facts.
But it is also an uncontested fact that the Calderons violated immigration laws of Japan.
Maybe this country ought to enter into an agreement with Japan to provide Filipinos with exemptions to the immigrations laws. But there is no such agreement in existence. What then would compel Japan to abandon its immigration laws for this Pinoy couple?
If you argue equity or in the interests of humanity, no one is forcing the child to stay in Japan. No one is separating the parents from their child. If anything, it is the Calderons who are bringing this onto themselves. If they feel it is so important to stay together, then they should all come back to the Philippines with their daughter.
Since their daughter has obtained rights to live in Japan, she can always return for higher education. Nothing bars her from returning.
I also don't see how the Japanese bureaucracy is not compassionate since the Calderons were not immediately deported in 2006 and let them stay in the country and plead their case until a special exception was made to permit Noriko to stay in Japan.
of course the Japanese government had compassion.
Noriko herself is fatalistic about the whole matter when she said that its not like they will never see each other again.
and BTW she will be looked after well because the Japanese people have raised money for her education and living costs.
He used fake docs to enter japan means intentionally right from the beginning na talikuran nya ang bayang sinilangan and now after 13yrs he could not understand tagalog anymore?arsehole, he despised our country and the feeling is mutual we call it in Ilocano "Agraraman nga uki-nana" lol.
kung itinakwil na nila ang pilipinas,bakit pa sila bumalik?dahil obviously wala naman silang ibang pupuntahan? I dont have any small sympathy for this kind of people.
FYI... The Japanese engaged in CANNIBALISM in the Philippines and ate hundreds of men, women and BABIES!
And Boldstar the circumstances pointthat all captured Australians were immediately executed by the Japanese. Even more horrifying, is that the Japanese killed and ate captured Australians when they had not exhausted their own food supplies.As the Australians pursued the retreating Japanese along the Kokoda Track, they came upon evidence that the Japanese had been eating captured Australian soldiers.
Japanese had been eating captured Australian soldiers!
Yum Yum Aussie meat!
The issue is not about the parents- OK!
It's about the child..."There is a bigger issue than immigration- that is violating the rights of children!"
The Japanese have a history of of VIOLATING children s rights especially with the RECORD of EATING CHILDREN!!!!
Dear Brian, Boldstar and Rain,
Here are PHOTOS of Japanese eating a couple of babies!
http://believe-or-not.blogspot.com/2007/08/japanese-eating-dead-babies.html
Yummy Babies sold in Japan!
http://my.opera.com/sajiwriter/blog/show.dml/462994
JAPANESE ARE BARBARIANS!
O yeah, right... tell that to the Calderons. The Japanese are cannibals and yet they (the Calderons) want to stay in Japan, for what? To get eaten? And the daughter wants to stay in Japan to do what? emulate the Japanese people so she can be a flesh eater too?
Clearly the Calderons do not agree with the sweeping assesments of the allegedly cannibalistic, vicious, evil character of the Japanese people that some commenters here would like to make.
If they are as evil as you guys say they are, then the least they could do is deport the whole family and be done with it. The most siguro, according to you guys is to eat them...
Oh, and yeah, if the Japanese have a history of violating children's rights, then all the more it doesnt make sense for the Calderon daughter to want to stay in Japan, di ba?
hahhaha now enter cannibalism...
come on let us argue on the validity of the propositions of clemency and granting residency to illegal immigrants.
not on the past. because if thats the highway you want to travel let me put this fact to you.
Japan was nuked both hiroshima and nagasaki with catastrophic losses of many NON-combatants.
The population took it as payment if youd call it that for the sins of their people.
of course Japan and even Germany continue to feel shame for the sins of their fathers and mothers and noone can imagine the terror many people suffered.
but we cannot expect to visit someones house uninvited stay hiding in their attic and come down after a few years and expect to own parts of it.
right?
and the argument that becasue the previous owners of the house were cannibals eating children that somehow concessions SHOULD be made to allow the ATTIC dwellers to own the house does not make sense.
you guys are mad......
i would have expected that the Calderons are smart enough to have bought a land and house somewhere else just in case they get sprung upon by the homeowners.
if not, then that would just be dumb.
Here's to clear the cannibalism talks:
http://www.snopes.com/horrors/cannibal/fetus.asp
They guy in the picture eating is a Chinese artist.
Thank you Johnonymous. Perhaps we can discuss further the other aspects of the Calderon problem, sans cannibalism.
Boldie's right. Regardless of what we think of the Japanese, the Calderon's don't deserve a break. Noriko's gonna be fine. She can always claim, "My parents are dynamite!". TNT kasi...(lol).
Ignorant immigrants usually make the mistake of expecting the foreign country they're in to adapt to their culture (remember the "tabo" shitter?). Stupid idiots like that who refuse to adapt to their foreign home don't deserve to migrate anywhere. Dito nalang sila.
...and don't forget to add wasabi when dining on babies...adds more pungency to the flavor. ;)
I cannot react wisely (or comfortably get a side) on Calderon's issue. I have not seen a lot of references or follow up stories on this case.
One side of me blames the Calderon parents for the risk they took and foreseeing consequences.
At the same time, maybe Japan's law was for the child's welfare, though it is hurting family unification in this specific matter.
Boldstar... you are the fucking QUEEN of this blog (no offence Rain, hehe)! BRILLIANT and ALWAYS 100% on the money! Girl, it must be that sweet Australian air/nectar!
Japan is an amazing country full of amazing people.
Have you been there propaganda man with your bullshit baby eating links? Thank you J for clearing that up.
I HATE it when some Filipinos can't get 'past' ANCIENT shit! THE JAPS WERE FUCKING NUKED for Christs sakes!!!!
Hundreds of thousands of death are not enough for you!!
Reparations have been MET!
It's called war and shit happens, right?
Too many THOUSANDS OF INNOCENT HUMAN BEINGS SNUFFED OUT in minutes.
PLEASE look past your selfish ignorant archaic points of view and stop re writing history!
PATHETIC YOU ARE!!!
It's 2009 NOT 1948
I have been to Japan..... seven times....and it's amazing trust me. Shall we punish the NEW Japanese for what happened in the war?
Please.... don't throw stones in your glass house.
Eating babies, PATHETIC attempt at pathetic rubbish. Ignoramus!
It's people like YOU that hold the Philippines back.
Japan was vicious?
What about America?
Clean your own doorstep before you start citing the ails of others.
Testing nuclear bombs on innocent human beings...
Eating Australians?
Oh god, what next?
I'm off to BORACAY for the GOMA Cup!
For complaints- Trixie and Rain are in charge of Victorina...
Rain the virus you gave me is from a very dangerous strain- probably from Japan! Hehehe!
We need an emergency meeting with Victorina council guys...2010 is around the corner!
Goodbye!
for Brian G- from New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/02/world/japanese-veteran-writes-of-brutal-philippine-war.html?scp=223&sq=LIPA&st=nyt
Japanese Veteran Writes Of Brutal
Jintaro Ishida knows his country's guilty secrets. Like few other Japanese, he knows in detail about the atrocities of World War II, and he knows of the quiet torment of the aging veterans who took part.
He knows, for example, about the massacre at the well in the Philippine village of Lipa, where 400 people were thrown to their deaths. The blood lust of the soldiers ran so high, he says, that one of them smashed a rock onto the head of a woman who was combing her hair.
Mr. Ishida, 79, who served in the navy during the war, is tortured by the scenes, as if he himself had taken part. He rises in agitation as he describes them, waving his arms as if combing his hair, then whipping them downward like a crazed soldier flinging a stone.
Over the past decade, Mr. Ishida, a retired schoolteacher, has made it his self-assigned mission to search out the scenes of massacres in the Philippines, to interview survivors, then to return to Japan to coax from the silent veterans their guiltiest memories.
He seems driven by a compulsion to overcome the ignorance of his countrymen, which he says he shared. ''A country with no self-criticism cannot heal itself,'' he said in an interview here. ''Even if you were born after the war, you still shoulder the history of your country.''
Like the single-minded researchers of the Nazi Holocaust, he is determined that history not be forgotten. Unlike those Jewish researchers, though, Mr. Ishida represents the victimizers rather than the victims.
But in a nation that steadfastly turns its face away from the most shameful episodes of its past, Mr. Ishida's is one voice that nobody wants to hear.
He has written and published two books of the accounts of the soldiers and their victims and has led a small number of Japanese on a half-dozen tours to see for themselves. But he has made almost no impact at home. Few Japanese have read his books or know his name.
''He is a very unusual man,'' said F. Sionil Jose, a leading Philippine author who wrote an afterword to Mr. Ishida's more recent book. ''The fact is that even though he is not well known, he is doing something heroic. My own feeling is, he is hounded by feelings of guilt.''
With his small pack, his plastic water bottle and his baseball cap, he has journeyed alone to remote villages, where he was sometimes threatened by survivors who are still angry at the Japanese.
Then, back at home, he has traveled the country accosting and interviewing nearly 100 former soldiers who took part in the crimes.
Some of the veterans refused to talk to him. Others confessed secrets they had never even told their wives. Some told him later that their meetings with him had left them with nightmares.
In plain language and painstaking detail, Mr. Ishida's books present the words of both the Filipinos and the Japanese he interviewed, along with his own anguished reactions. In small, obscure printings, ignored by newspaper reviewers, the books spent only a few weeks in bookstores before being removed from the shelves.
Japan's refusal to acknowledge its wartime crimes was highlighted recently by the publication of textbooks that gloss over the past and by the visit of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to the Yasukuni Shrine, which honors fallen Japanese soldiers.
That visit has drawn strong condemnation from nations invaded by Japan, like China, Korea, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines.
''Koizumi felt sorry for the young Japanese who died in the war,'' Mr. Ishida said. ''But young people all around Asia died too. It is not enough to pray only for the soldiers of your own country.''
Mr. Ishida is one of a small corps of researchers who are swimming against the tide of ignorance in Japan. A former newspaper reporter named Katsuichi Honda has published research about war crimes in China. A professor named Aiko Utsumi has researched war crimes committed in Indonesia.
Like many other Japanese, Mr. Ishida said, he had been ignorant of the dark side of his country's history -- of the massacres, sexual slavery, forced labor and the use of chemical and biological warfare.
The issue here is the parents using the child as a shield against deportation not Japanese war crimes.
the problem with us Filipinos is that we confuse justice with being compassionate. They broke the law they have to own up to the consequences no matter how harsh. look at other countries they strictly enforce their laws thats why their citizens are disciplined what about our people here?
On the subject of Japanese war crimes while it is true the Japanese did some pretty nasty stuff they have suffered and paid for it both in lives and in cash. It is time that we move along and forget citing events that happened more than 50 years ago. What we need to do is stop the rabble rousing and focus on more pressing problems.
Okay, ANON April 22, 2009 4:15 PM
You win. Lol...
Understand that Japan never denied their shortcomings in history. They were nuked as well. They bounced back with great unity. They put their internal differences behind, now they have a good system. They honor laws and agreements.
Same goes to South Korea who suffered a lot too and they bounced back.
What about us Filipinos? I love this country but for as long as we highly criticize our differences (including petty ones) in all aspects, we'll be staying in the same pile of crap.
As a friend said, cooperation and compromise is very difficult to the sane. For the insane, it is never attainable. So, let's be sane with things. No society is perfect but hey, positive changes can be done.
"Japan's refusal to acknowledge its wartime crimes was highlighted recently by the publication of textbooks that gloss over the past and by the visit of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to the Yasukuni Shrine, which honors fallen Japanese soldiers..."
Japanese are heartless people!
POW!
Anonymous said...
"Japan's refusal to acknowledge its wartime crimes was highlighted recently by the publication of textbooks that gloss over the past and by the visit of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to the Yasukuni Shrine, which honors fallen Japanese soldiers..."
Japanese are heartless people!
POW!
April 22, 2009 5:50 PM
_______________________
You're way off-topic, dumbass!
Racist na, stupid pa...
KAPOW!
har har har I must say some of these comments here are way out of the topic... From someone inside (have been living in Japan for almost ten years), I agree with Boldstar and Brian's comments. Your observations are very insightful for gaikokujins (foreigners). First, the case of the Calderon's should be a lesson to all of us that crime really does not pay (maybe only in the Philippines). Second, the faults of Japan (past and present) is another matter. I can write an entire blog about it or reply to all the other comments here but I think this isn't the correct forum.
If they pretended to be Japanese and disowned the Philippines. The Philippines should disown them too! Sila ang nauna! Tingnan lang natin kung saan sila mapadpad niyan! The immigration department shouldn't have let them enter the country noh!!
No one forgets their mother tongue, that's crap!!
Found it insulting that they only spoke to Japanese media at the airport.
I left the Philippines when I was 16 years old to live in the U.S.(I'm now 31) and I can definitely still speak and understand Tagalog!
I encounter Filipinos all the time who claim, after living wherever for as few as 3 years, that they can no longer speak in their native tongue and I think it's a load of crap. Liar, liar, pants on fire!
I live in Japan and have been here for 6 years now. I have been following the Calderons case because of the media frenzy that they brought to themselves even asking help from Amnesty International.
Gosh, I think if they didn't bring too much media into their case the Immigration would have sympathy on their side and get that special residency visa. Japanese Immigration is "strict" but they have compassion too if you just don't bring media frenzy to your side. I have friends whose case is like their case both filipinos, married even have 3 kids here in Japan but because they didn't bring the media into their case they got that special residency visa they been wanting too.
Japan Immigration is strict but it's a case-to-case basis. Lastly, I do not have compassion for these people denouncing their Filipino roots! I don't even believe that their daughter doesn't speak nor understand Tagalog!! That's utter BS!!! Good thing they're back there in Tondo and I don't see them in TV News here anymore as I'm getting sick of the attention they brought to themselves!
both points of view are valid...
1. parents committed an immigration crime.
2. childrens rights are universal and should be respected by all countries.
OK so shut-up already!
Like many other younger Japanese, the new government had been IGNORANT of the dark side of his country's history -- of the MASSACRES, SEXUAL SLAVERY, use of chemical and biological warfare...
I URGE THE SMART (Victorina has a handful)PEOPLE OF VICTORINA TO KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN and READ YOUR HISTORY BOOKS.
The PHILIPPINES used to be one of ASIA'S RICHEST COUNTRY before the Japanese invaded us!
Japan committed serious crimes to humanity so we should be vigilant!
This post has 4 issues that I would like to address separately. Please bear with me as this may be barely related the the Calderon but what the heck. I would like to point though that I am not a historian but merely a bystander who have visited Japan on 2 occassions.
Dear:Anonymous Gina Reysio-Cruz
Like many other younger Japanese, the new government had been IGNORANT of the dark side of his country's history -- of the MASSACRES, SEXUAL SLAVERY, use of chemical and biological warfare...
reply:
yes thats true. however you have to examine why contextually. Japan as a culture is centred to its core by "haji" or shame differentiating from the western "guilt" based culture from personal actions. The wide difference is that the Japanese feeling of shame is an external feeling that is why the society in the past and at present have always been very conforming to the ideals of society.
Shame is just as good as dead. that's why in the 80's when japans economic prosperity slide there were horrendous suicides among top executives.
however increasingly more and more people have become aware. further, don't make the sins of their forefathers be a tool for moral ascendancy on your part.
_________________________________
I URGE THE SMART (Victorina has a handful)PEOPLE OF VICTORINA TO KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN and READ YOUR HISTORY BOOKS.
REPLY:
Thats your opinion to insult and be backhanded with your compliment.
I can assure you though that the Victorina Council is fully jolted whenever an article is posted.
This Calderon case has nothing to do with history. Because if it does then what is happening in Mindanao NOW can be on your blood and the blood of your offrings in generations to come whether they denounce their Filipino heritage or not.
the military murderers operating in Mindanao are rampant. Should I therefore extend the blame from the administrations in past and present to you and your family?
_________________________________
The PHILIPPINES used to be one of ASIA'S RICHEST COUNTRY before the Japanese invaded us!
reply: you need to go back and re-read history.
hahahahahahaha
what about corruption, cronyism
Taiwan was under Japanese Rule. they were pillage. they are economically advance.
We and the whole of the Philippines are entitled to haul ourselves up from the mess aren't we? Should we continuously blame our predicament to what Japan did to us in the four years of occupation and forever lament what could have been and roll over like a pig in the mud without having to make ourselves be responsible?
and moreover, when Spain sold us to the Americans in the treaty of PAris it wasnt until 50 years later that the americans signed the treaty of manila.
__________________________________
Japan committed serious crimes to humanity so we should be vigilant!
reply:
oh yes be vigilant. if history would teach all of us a lesson is that by being vigilant one can prevent atrocities but don't tell me that right now atrocities against innocent filipinos in Minadanao have not been commited.
that's the current battle we need to fight. in our own backyard.
I hope though you are not driving around in a mercedes, audi or bmw? Are you going to do the same for Germany?
____________________________________
in answering this points i came to conclude that these points have nothing to do with the illegal status of the Calderon's.
There is no point of contention nor there should be any discussion on the Calderon's deportation. They knowingly broke the law and were aware of Japan's Immigration policies.
The only thing questionable is the family denouncing their descent and the fact that they are Filipinos and their use of the media. It is their personal choice to do it though but what has it got them nothing but "bad publicity" and the tendency to be ostracized by most Filipinos.
Kung magyayabang lang naman as a Filipino huwag yong deportado ka, kundi you have done something good for the world whether it is cleaning, computer programming, singing or dancing at ano-ano pa as long as you make your country proud and you are not ashame to say "ako ay Filipino". We are not as bad as a people and as a country.
To Boldstar,
According to this article http://www.japanprobe.com/?p=9880
Arlan Calderon can speak Tagalog but cannot speak English. He further explains that they tried to teach their daughter Tagalog but never learned.
It also said that the Japanese government has already stated that it will allow the Calderons to make short visits to see their daughter. (Under normal circumstances, foreigners who illegally enter Japan are banned from re-entering the country for five years.)
I think that's fair enough.
I have been here in the US for years and years and I haven't had much opportunity to speak Filipino since my profession involves me dealing with Americans and a purely English-speaking group. However, I got my post-graduate degree in Manila before I migrated. I was in my mid20s then. I also have friends who migrated in their early 20s, and while we now tend to speak English more than Filipino, we are still able to talk (and cuss) very fluently in the vernacular. My tita has been working here as a bank manager since 1973, and by jove, she still speaks Filipino like she's never left Manila.
To hear this idiotic couple, who illegally migrated to another country in their 20s (like me), declaring that they cannot understand nor speak Filipino anymore is a f***in' load of bullcrap. Mastery of a language occurs before 10 years old, and while you may get a little rusty with the spoken language, the understanding of it doesn't completely go away. Maybe some alien from outerspace took a real big magnet and wiped their temporal lobes clear of data?
And what exactly are they so snooty about? Do they actually think that being a TNT (and in Japan, for god's sakes) affords them a better social stratum than the rest of Filipino society in general? Maybe someone should b*tchslap this couple--reality check: NAKAKAHIYA KAYO, AND YOU SHOWED THE REST OF THE WORLD WHAT POOR EXCUSES YOU ARE AS HUMAN BEINGS. No one thinks you're more sosyal or intellectual dahil nag-TNT kayo sa Japan. And shame on you for treating your fellow Filipinos as second-rate citizens. You didn't have to go back to the Philippines--if staying in Manila was so horrendous to you guys you should have migrated somewhere else, I don't think the Philippine government will try very hard to stop you anyway. All your insistence in speaking only to Japanese press and your wanting a Japanese translator when you're being interviewed doesn't really achieve anything except make you more of a laughingstock than you are now.
Good luck in trying to look for a job in Manila. Mag japayuki na lang kayo, tutal Japanese lang naman ang naiintindihan ninyo kuno.
BTW...I don't think modern Japan owes anything more to the rest of the world than a sincere, heartfelt apology. So to bring up the sins of fathers in order to rationalize someone else's mistakes is wrong.
At pwede ba...kailan ba naging Japanese ang apelyidong "Calderon"? The kid never noticed that the name is different from the rest of her classmates? Ay, pwede ba?
hear hear!
Expat said...
BTW...I don't think modern Japan owes anything more to the rest of the world than a sincere, heartfelt apology. So to bring up the sins of fathers in order to rationalize someone else's mistakes is wrong.
___________________________
Well said!
Unfortunately, a number of people just DON'T get it...Duh!
good evening,
We are PETT. People for the Ethical Treatment of TNTs, we are here to protest the unethical treatment of the Calderons. They must be granted citizenship by the Japanese govt due to the fact that the JAPANESE are our cousins!!
because their grandfathers raped our grandmothers during WW2!
Illegal immigrants are present in any countries around the world mainly for economic reasons. In the United States for example, immigration is a topic too big to ignore and there are no perfect solutions to this problem. However, the problem with illegal immigrants just like the Calderons is that they feel a sense of entitlement to be in Japan even from very beginning they knew that what they did was illegal. And now they can't speak Filipino? Oh please give me break? Granted, he's fluent in Nihongo, he's still an illegal immigrant who happened to be deported. Huli! Magpakatotoo ka brother!
*aside
guys it's "case by case" and NOT "case to case"
Kapal naman ng pagmumukha ng Arlan na ito. Nakatungtong lang sa Japan biglang nagkaamnesia kaya di na nakakapag tagalog. Ulol! Parang mga ibang pinoy din sa states, isang taon pa lang nakalimutan ng magtagalog. Sino lokohin nyo. Halatang pilit na pilit pa ang accent. Naman....
i must agree with the writer... when i first read their story, i felt that what happened to them was really unfair.. but now, their true colors are showing... i just abhor such pretensions... kamusta naman na hindi na niya alam magtagalog, kung mid-20's na siya ng nag-TNT? efekera!! eww.. yak...
Why should anyone defend TNT's?
First of all, they are law-breakers regardless of their economic situation. The Calderon's broke the law, and are now getting the treatment they deserve...simple as that.
PPSSSSSSTTTTTT UPDATE!!!!!!
DOK said:
According to this article http://www.japanprobe.com/?p=9880
Arlan Calderon can speak Tagalog but cannot speak English.
__________________________________
THANKS DOK!
this website got this article from philstar.com, NOONE ELSE MENTIONED HE SPOKE TAGALOG....
but of course he speaks tagalog...
UPDATE: Guys geys and girls philstar reported that Mr Calderon Speaks TAGALOG. published april 15 Rudy Santos said that Arlan uttered these words in TAGALOG:
“One day, three Japanese police came to our house to tell us that we’re being arrested and questioned for overstaying,” Arlan said in Tagalog.
As I said they (or more specifically) Mr calderon is pretending .......
of course he knows how to speak tagalog. the post never implied that he doesnt but rather that he took the pretense angle as a means of enhancing his objectives of being granted Japanese residency. Nobody in their right mind believed he doesnt know Tagalog, even tinny weeny bit.
but thanks to DOK he speaks Tagalog. its one of those tales like the one he had told CNN that they are from a farming community. but some media reported they are from Tondo.
hay naku its getting too much...
i dont pity them. many filipinos are also staying illegally in the middle east, and when they decide to go home and submit themselves to the immigration, they have to pay for the years they have over stayed in that country, others who cannot afford to pay have to be jailed for a certain period. buti nga sila hindi na sila ikinulong at dineport na lang agad.
hahaha. pakyung yawa cla. tau ngppkahirap mgbyad ng tax d2 tapos cla biglang su2lpot claiming government assistant when they have not invested any single fucking cent/yen to our government. puta**a nila. (excuse my language. : )
So what if he cannot speak the Pilipino language or dialects. He can probably work at the Japanese Embassy, Japan Airlines or any authentic Japanese restaurants if he so qualifies. Or, he probably accumulated tons of yens by being a TNT for thirteen years. The thing is he has nowhere to go but the country he left behind, the language he forgot to speak and the people he does not want to be associated. If he does not want to go back to his mother country, then he can go to hell.
hi my name is amiel too
i am a girl and my name is a boy name
i do speak tagalog po
but i can't read and write tagalog po
blah blah blah..................................................
so... bye bye
the fact that the japanese committed unspeakable atrocities during the 2nd world war is beside the point, it doesn't entitle the victims, particularly us filipinos, exception to their immigration policies.
and as for the consequences that the child has to suffer... e nagsimula sa mali e, aasahan mo bang mamunga ng tama? kasalanan ng mga magulang nya yon, hindi ng japanese government (or should i translate this to nihonggo so the hypocritical calderons will understand)
if they're so horrible as a people in the first place e bakit atat na atat ang iba sa atin na magTNT sa kanila? what does it say of us then?