Difficulties of new generation Japanese descendants in RP bared

By Ronron
June 20, 2007

A Japanese organization in the Philippines that originated in Cebu has bared the difficulties experienced in the country of abandoned children of Japanese and Filipino couples, and Filipino women who had failed relations with Japanese men.

Akira Oka, chairman of the Shin-Nikkeijin Network (New Filipino-Japanese or Japino Network) or SNN, said most of the abandoned Japinos, as well as their Filipino mothers, are slumped in poor communities due to lack, if not absence, of economic support from their Japanese fathers.

"I decided to put up this organization because of the increasing problems of the Japinos… Among the common problems we encountered were the Filipinas (majority of them working as entertainers in Japan) married to Japanese and their Japino children," Oka, 80, said in an interview on the Manila-based Japanese newspaper, Daily Manila Shimbun.

The Cebu-based entrepreneur was President of the Japanese Association in Cebu for over 10 years before founding the SNN in February last year. That stint oriented him to various concerns of Japinos who consult him.

Oka, who recently came to Manila to launch an SNN office here, said the organization is most concerned with Japinos born and registered in Japan but whose parents got separated, forcing them to return to the Philippines and embrace the hard way of life to be able to survive.

"Aside from financial problems, these Japinos have no Philippine birth certificates. So, when they reach school age, they have problems with the school requirements… The separated father is sometimes missing, so they cannot get original family registration in Japan," he narrated.

Oka said if these children could only have access to good education, then they would be able to get good jobs, even in Japan.

Official records from Japan for the period of 1993 up to 2005 show that there are 101,098 Japinos registered in Japan, Oka said. It is not known, however, how many are currently in the Philippines.

But for Cebu, he said they have accounted for over 500 in its May 2005 Membership List – 317 children and 250 mothers.

"We have expanded to the Luzon area now because we believe that the Japanese population in Manila is more than 10 times bigger than in Cebu. Our expectation as to the number of Japinos in Manila area is more or less 3,000," Oka said.

Oka said SNN's ultimate aim is to help Japinos land a job in Japan so they could improve their family's living condition. "We do not want to give them money… We want to give them jobs," he said.

He expressed confidence that if their papers are approved, the Japinos will not experience difficulty in choosing jobs in Japan because of a lot of options there, such as factory workers and food packers.

"They (Japanese employers) prefer and appreciate the work of Filipinos (because) they are good workers (and) have very good communication (skills)," said Oka.

The SNN also assists Filipino mothers of the Japinos in getting working permits if they intend to work in Japan, he said.

Asked if he thinks the Japanese society in Japan will accept the Japinos, Oka said: "Hopefully, yes. I hope that there will be no discrimination because these Japinos have Japanese blood. Actually, they (Japanese) are the ones suffering because of their parents' problems."

He lamented that the Japinos experience hardships because of their parents' disagreements born out of financial and cultural differences, including even a basic issue – communication.

"There are many reasons - financial matters; culture; insincerity; being irresponsible to their duties and obligations as parents; sometimes Japanese parents can't accept their (Filipino) daughter-in-law. But main reason in most cases is the language barrier… Most Japanese husbands cannot speak or really understand English, Visayan or Tagalog," Oka said.

So far, the SNN has already successfully sent six Japinos to Japan to work, Oka said. There are currently 22 pending applications, and 50 applicants are expected every month.

The organization, being non-profit, sustains its operations through donations, mostly from Japanese companies and partners in the country. Eventually, they hope to get a financial assistance from Japan.

For the Philippine government, Oka said they are just asking the Bureau of Immigration to forego the imposition of penalties for Japinos (with Japanese citizenship) charged with illegal staying in the country due to lack of financial capability to pay for it.

"The SNN association aims to give support and assistance to these Japinos for a better future, a good education, a normal life, a chance to study in Japan especially if they had acquired Japanese nationality. If they are staying here in the Philippines, the Japanese government cannot support them. But if they stay in Japan, the Japanese government can assist them," Oka said./END

*This article came out on gmanews.tv: http://www.gmanews.tv/story/47465/Difficulties-of-new-generation-Japanese-descendants-in-RP-bared