RP teen loses parents in Japan deportation battle

MANILA, Philippines - The 13-year-old daughter of an undocumented Filipino couple in Japan will be placed under the custody of the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo.

The Japanese recently issued a ruling that only allowed the child, Noriko Calderon to remain in the country, and not her parents, Arlan and Sarah who will be deported back to the Philippines.

Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) spokesperson Ed Malaya told reporters on Monday that the couple were forced to return to the Philippines following Japan's decision. They only have until Monday to leave Japan and Noriko who is a junior high school student in Warabi, Saitama prefecture.

"The DFA respects the decision of the parents and full appreciates the heavy heart with which they arrived at that difficult decision to leave their daughter in Japan," Malaya said in a text message.

Malaya said that the DFA had instructed the Philippine post in Tokyo "to closely monitor and provide assistance to Noriko as needed."

Since 2006, the couple has been asking the Japanese government to let them stay with their daughter, but the Supreme Court turned down the plea last September.

Noriko was born in 1995 in Japan after her parents in the early 1990s entered the country using fake passports.

The Calderon family's plight received attention from various groups including international humanitarian organizations that urged the Japanese government to reconsider its decision. - Mark Joseph Ubalde, GMANews.TV

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