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CEBU CITY: Thirteen young individuals of Japanese descent and 14
mothers of Japanese-Filipino (Japino) children are set to leave for
Japan on Monday to study or work and, hopefully, have “better
lives,” reported the Philippine News Agency on Sunday.
Shin-Nikkeijin Network (SNN) Association Inc., a
nongovernment organization giving assistance to Japinos or
“children born after World War ll” in the Philippines, is
sending them off after the Japanese Embassy in Manila, for the first
time, approved and issued long-term visas for the children and the
mothers.
”It is our national duty as Japanese
[citizens] to help these children attain a good future. We really
want to give them a good chance for a good education,” said SNN
chairman Akira Oka.
He said there are about 830 registered mothers
and Japino children with the SNN—480 in Cebu and 350 in Manila.
They had undergone language and skill training
that would allow the children to easily adapt to the Japanese school
system, and for their mothers to easily get jobs in Japan.
Some of the mothers could work as caregivers or
as domestic helpers.
They could also work in the food industry or in
the Bento-making industry, said Oka.
Oka launched SNN in 2006 to help Japinos find
their fathers in Japan to get financial and educational support for
them, and for themselves or their mothers to find jobs in Japan.
There are about 101,098 Japino children
registered in Japan as of 2005,said Oka.
However, the Japanese government cannot indicate
how many Japino children are living in the Philippines or in Japan.
While there were 101,098 registered Japino
children in Japan, still a large number of these children remain
unregistered, both in Japan and in the Philippines.
”But I estimate that there might be even about
100,000 Japinos in the Philippines that remain unregistered,” said
Oka.
Most of these Japinos have lived without their
Japanese fathers for most of their lives.
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