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A civil society group, the Philippine Assistance
Group (PAG), organized an Immigration Awareness Forum on June 29 at
the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo.
The PAG, an umbrella organization
formed in the Kanto area in 1997 to assist Filipinos in distress,
put together the forum to educate Filipinos on the new immigration
rules and regulations, and their rights as migrants. It was
intended to empower the community in assisting individuals facing
problems relating to immigration, domestic violence, and human
trafficking.
The first session focused on
immigration and deportation issues. Among the invited speakers
for this session were representatives from the Tokyo Regional
Immigration Bureau, namely, Yuji Hirakawa, Yasuaki Sugawara and
Takashi Kobayashi.
The second session concentrated
on domestic violence and human trafficking issues. The
resource speakers were April Morito of Kapatiran, Carina Morita of
the International Organization for Migration, and Menchie Suzuki and
Rose Takahashi of the Kalakasan Migrant Women Empowerment Centre.
Also joining them was Consul
Felipe F. Carino 3rd who spoke on the assistance provided by the
Assistance-to-Nationals Section of the Philippine Embassy.
Vice-Consul Brian Dexter Lao took the opportunity to announce the
Embassy’s issuance of the Machine Readable Passport beginning July
1.
Addressing an audience
representing 22 Filipino community organizations and NGOs, PAG Chair
Leo dela Rosa, who is also president of the Filipino-American
Association of Atsugi, said that PAG will continue to provide
medical and repatriation assistance, and a higher level of knowledge
and understanding of issues affecting many Filipinos in Japan.
The results of discussions at the
Forum will be made available on PAG’s website at www.pagjapan.org.
PAG is composed of 14
organizations: Association of Filipinos in Tokyo, Association of
Filipino Students in Japan, Christian Association Serving
Traditional Laymen’s Evangelization, El Shaddai, FICAP, FilAm
Atsugi, Filipino Bowlers’ Club, FMN, PML, Samahang Pilipino, and
Teatro Kanto Organization as full members.
Associate members include the
Solid Filipino Migrant Association and the Japan Association of Novo
Ecijanos. The Philippine Embassy serves as the PAG
Secretariat.
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