Filipinos in Japan Protest Against Midnight Bidding of Fujimi Property

Protest Against Midnight Bidding of Philippine Property in Japan Hits Arroyo and Bidders

Around thirty Filipinos barricaded the gate of Philippine ambassadors house in Tokyo's Chiyoda ward denouncing the Arroyo administration plan to demolish the historical site and replace with a 21-story building. The protest action sends signal to both Arroyo administration and the bidders to keep off with shared historical and cultural rights of Filipinos and Japanese. 

The prepared press statement of the Save Fujimi Network stated, “Today we are putting our symbolic barricade to signal the start of protest movement and legal action against Arroyo and private company bidders in the act of stealing the shared cultural and historical rights of Filipino and Japanese people. This property should be preserved as a reminder to the Filipinos people who are unaware of how much we have lost and have been cheated out of deceptive 50 years Built Operate Transfer scheme used in developing the Roppongi property. We believe our people are being subjected once again to the same deception in a desperate move by the Arroyo government, which is expiring in 6-month s time, to capitalize on the Fujimi property."

Yuko Takei, one of the protest organizers, said, "In the Roponggi property, out of the whole block, only a little percentage has been allotted to house the Philippine Embassy. And in the Philippine Embassy, very little or around 10,500 Filipinos per square meter is provided for consular service use."  Takei also noted, "In the highly secretive Fujimi development deal between Arroyo government and bidders, as usual, we suspect that there is the no entry for Filipinos, the rightful owners of the property, except the Philippine ambassador and their guests, provision in the development deal.”  

According to Cesar Santoyo, the Coordinator of Save Fujimi Network, the Philippine government neglected totally to give support to almost 200,000 Filipinos living in Japan, including around 170,000 Filipino mothers of Japanese-Filipino children who live in Japan permanently. Santoyo  noted, "There are in fact more than 300,000 Japanese-Filipino children majority of whom are now in their late teens and early twenties."

"These numbers of ignored people are enough to engage Arroyo and the private bidders in legal suits in courts of law, parliaments, as well as on streets where they can voice out aloud the protest once the Fujimi development plan pushed through,” added Anakbayan-Japan Chairperson, Anglique Shimo, a Japanese-Filipino who said that she and her group would not stop their protests until legislative measure could be in place to protect Philippine properties in Japan. 

The sentiment was shared by another protester, Josie Aranjuez Nistal, President of Samahang Filipino, a member organization of the protest network.  Nistal said that Arroyo should not dispose Philippine properties.   Like the other members of her group, she vowed to continue joining the protests "until the Philippine government stop depriving Filipinos their right to have a say in any transaction, especially regarding Philippine patrimonies, that they do." 

The protesters dispersed after two hour, from 4:00-6:00 p.m. under heavy police security.

 

The New Nikkeijin

Yesterday, September 24, 2009, I attended a conference on the Japanese-Filipino children, mostly born out of wedlock and are now being recognized as Japanese nationals if their births are acknowledged legally by their Japanese fathers or mothers. It was sponsored by the International Organization for Migration

I feel sorry for those kids, who are now being called by another nomenclature that will in no way erase the stigma of their being born out of wedlock for instance, or their mothers having worked in bars and clubs in Japan and getting pregnant by some Japanese men.

They were called "Japino" when some Japanese lawyers started taking up their causes initiated by some overstaying Filipino women, who wanted to have the permit to work and stay in Japan permanently using their children as leverage, and worse, even take advantage of the welfare granted to single parents as stipulated by some Child Welfare Law.

The kids are now being called "Shin Nikkeijin"(New People of Japanese descent) to kind of differentiate them from Brazilians, Peruvians, etc. of Japanese ancestry, who flocked suddenly into Japan in the early 90's, and their repatriation paid for by the Japanese government when they could not adjust well to life in Japan.

The Shin Nekkeijin, on the other hand, are told that they cannot expect the same kind of benefit with agencies supposed to take charge of their cases still trying to cope with the new Supreme Court ruling on them.

At least, one of the kids, Angelique Shimo, has the mind to protest against this new term applicable to them that will definitely not improve the tarnished image projected by yellow journalism which called their mothers "Japayuki." The only beneficiaries whatsoever by this new name will be those people buttering their breads with this issue, which is in fact a consequence of the neglect of the Marcos administration to stop the deployment of the so-called "Japayukis" in the 70's and 80's, the naivette of Mrs. Cory Aquino in making it a moneymaking business for her government, and the people,who were/are nowhere nearer to finding solutions to the problems on hand then and now.

SAVE PHILIPPINE PATRIMONIES IN JAPAN FROM ARROYO'S GREED AND CORRUPTION

An Open Letter to Senate President Manuel Villar

Protect the Philippine Patrimony in Japan, Save the Philippine Properties from Arroyo's Greed and Corruption: Petition and Unity Statement of Concerned Filipinos in Japan

Honorable Manuel Villar

President, Senate of the Philippines

Rm. 606 6th Flr., GSIS Bldg.,

Financial Center, Roxas Blvd.,

Pasay City

Dear Sir:

We, the members of the Filipino community and our Japanese supporters, are outraged by Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s renewed bidding call for the “development” of the Fujimi property, which is one of the five (5) properties acquired by the Philippines in Japan through World War II reparations of Japan to the Philippines. The others are located in other posh districts in Tokyo and Kobe.

The Fujimi is a 5,219 square-meter prime real-state located in a mixed residential and commercial district in Tokyo right next to the Imperial Palace and the famous Yasukuni Shrine, where coincidentally those who sacrificed their lives for their country in WWII are enshrined.

We understand that the move to subject the said Philippine property and patrimony in Japan for built-operate-transfer schemes come after the revelation by Engineer Rodolfo Noel Lozada, Jr. at the Philippine Senate Blue Ribbon hearing last 8 February 2008 on the overpriced Zhong Xing Telecommunication Equipment Company-National Broadband Network (ZTE-NBN) project, for which we understand that former Commission on Election Chairman Benjamin Abalos, Sr., allegedly hoped to gain a large amount of kickbacks amounting to 130 million US dollars in connivance with Jose Miguel Arroyo, the husband of Gloria M. Arroyo, who should be held responsible for all these scams.

We, therefore, view both the biddings for ZTE-NBN and the Fujimi property projects as having no clear public rationale, and like the former, the bidding for the Fujimi property has to be stopped.

In August 2003, the Arroyo administration discretely published an ad in the newspapers soliciting bids for the development of the remaining Philippine properties in Japan. This "stealth attack" was almost successful as it was not until October that the Filipino community got word of the new attempt.

The bidding schedule was particularly disturbing since it was timed so that awards could be made on the day prior to the moratorium on property dealings, six months before the elections - a blatant attempt that the Filipino community in Japan saw as a desperate effort to quickly raise funds for Arroyo’s election

campaign. Towards the end of November, we were informed that you, Senator Manuel Villar, issued a statement that the Senate should be informed that the bidding was not pushing through.

However, in February 2004, to the great surprise of the Filipino community in Tokyo, articles suddenly appeared in the Philippine newspapers that the Arroyo government was already prepared to award 50-year leases for the Shibuya and two Kobe properties, in exchange for 948 million pesos (1.78 billion yen) under a "hybrid build-operate-transfer" scheme.

The Kudanshita, Fujimi property was excluded from the award that we surmise, in part, to pacify the ambassador who lives there, and who has been against the disposal of the properties.

The awards were to be given to two companies: Urban Corporation, a relatively young property developer based in Hiroshima; and a certain Berg Corporation, which is not listed anywhere in Japan. Thus, the granting such award to a non-Japanese or Filipino company has by virtue of the provisions of the Japan-Philippine Reparations Treaty a breach of the treaty and a violation of the terms and conditions of the said treaty that has restricted the granting of such award to any non-Filipino or non-Japanese individual, company and otherwise.

Moreover, there had been no announcement as required by the law regarding such information as to the names of the other bidders, prices submitted, and the details of the schemes to be undertaken. Even now, such information has not been disclosed to the public that the Filipino community in Japan cannot understand other than an aversion to transparency. Even senior level embassy officers in Tokyo have not informed of the details throughout the bidding process then and now.

Once again, in February 25, 2008, at the height of the nation-wide mass actions calling for Arroyo’s resignation due to corruption charges and the People Power anniversary, the news reported the call for the Fujimi property bidding. This time, the Philippine Ambassador, Domingo L. Siazon is even implicated in what the Filipino community deem to be another scam despite the fact that he has openly spoken against the disposal of the Fujimi property.

The news stated the Philippine ambassador might be “bent on favoring a close relative or friends of his wife’s clan in Japan.” This statement made by an official of the Department of Finance is posted at http://www.journal.com.ph/index.php?issue=2008-02-25&sec=4&aid=50609.

Accordingly, we, the Filipinos in Japan and our Japanese supporters, oppose all forms of trampling on our own patrimonial rights. If the removal of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is necessarily for these patrimonies to remain in Philippine hands, so be it. Sobra na, tama na, kumilos na (Enough is enough, stop the immoral undertaking, let’s act now)!

We, therefore, are affixing our signatures to show our unity on the issue and solidarity with the millions of Filipinos calling for the preservation of the historical Fujimi property, and other Philippine patrimonies in Japan, especially the property at Nampeidai, Shibuya Ward in Tokyo that is now being contested in a Philippine court by a Japanese who claims he bought the said property from the Arroyo government sans a national referendum and therefore has the right to register the said property and dispose of it as his own. For this, we demand very strongly the resignation or ousting of Arroyo.

We are counting on the Senate President to help and act on the petition of the Filipino people to stop the bidding and all transactions of the Arroyo administration to dispose the Philippine properties in Japan.

Protect the Philippine Patrimony in Japan!

Save the Philippine Fujimi Property Away from Greed and Corruption!

Oust Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo NOW!

Cc: Members of the Philippine Senate

Philippine Embassy, Tokyo, Japan

Tokyo, Japan

March 30, 2008

Yuko Takei

Spokesperson

Crusade for the Protection of Philippine Patrimonies in Japan

Agalyn Nagase

National Chairperson

Kalipunan ng mga Filipino na Nagkakaisa (KAFIN)

Cesar V. Santoyo

Mission Director

Center for Japanese-Filipino Families (CJFF)

Cora Kasuga

National Chairperson

Filipina Circle for Advancement and Progress (FICAP)

Roland Tolentino

Professor, University of the Philippines Film Institute

Visiting Researcher, Center for Southeast Asian Studies,

Kyoto University

Jocelyn Hasumi

Leader, Saitama Chapter

The Philippine Women’s League of Japan

Virgie Ishihara

Executive Director

Filipino Migrants Center (FMC)

Epifania M. Kyo

Association of Filipino Wives of Japanese

Chiba, Japan

Margie Ieda

Chairperson

Filipina Circle for Advancement and Progress (FICAP-Nagoya)

Francis YU

Architect

Tokyo, Japan

JOIN THE OUST GLORIA MOVEMENT

JOIN THE OUST GLORIA M. ARROYO MOVEMENT!

GLORIA RESIGN!

WE JOIN ALL FILIPINOS AT HOME AND ABROAD IN DEMANDING FOR THE RESIGNATION OF GLORIA M. ARROYO RIGHT NOW!

FILIPINOS ARE FED UP OF HER LIES AND DECEIT. SHE HAS TO STEP DOWN AND ACCEPT ALL LEGAL RESPONSIBILITIES FOR ALL THE CRIMES COMMITTED BY HER, HER HUSBAND AND THEIR ASSOCIATES AGAINST THE COUNTRY AND PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES.

WE ALSO REFUSE THE SERVICES OF HER PARTNER IN CRIME, NOLI DE CASTRO, HER VICE PRESIDENT AS WE BELIEVE THAT HE IS A BENEFICIARY OF THE RAMPANT CHEATING DONE DURING THE ELECTION IN 2004 THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN WON BY HER OPPONENT, THE MORE POPULAR RONALD ALLAN POE, A.K.A. FERNANDO POE JR., IF NOT FOR THE 1 MILLION VOTES REPORTEDLY STOLEN BY THE INFAMOUS VOTE-RIGGER, VIRGILIO GARCILLANO, ON HER ORDER AND INSTRUCTION.

FILIPINOS DEMAND THAT GLORIA M. ARROYO BE ARRESTED, PROSECUTED AND JAILED FOR HER CRIMES TOGETHER WITH ALL HER ACCOMPLICES!

WE REQUEST FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS TO REFUSE PROVIDING HELP AND ASSISTANCE TO THIS CRIMINAL AND HER MINIONS.

CONCERNED FILIPINOS AND THEIR SUPPORTERS IN JAPAN

Filipinos in Japan Appeal to Kuwaiti Embassy for Mercy

October 31, 2007


H.E. GHASSAN AL^SAWAWI
Ambassador
Embassy of the State of Kuwait
4-13-12 Mita, Minato-ku
Tokyo 108-0073

Your Excellency,

Greetings of Peace and Goodwill!

We are members of the Filipino community in Japan belonging to The Philippine Women’s League of Japan (PWLJ), the Filipina Circle for Advancement and Progress (FICAP), the Kalipunan ng mga Filipinong Nagkakaisa (KAFIN) and Migrante-Japan. We are writing Your Excellency to inform that we plan to visit your embassy to request for a dialogue on November 13, 2007 (Tuesday) between 4:00 o’clock and 5:00 o’clock in the afternoon, and to hand in a letter of appeal addressed to His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber al-Sabah, The Amir of the State of Kuwait in connection with the case of Marilou Ranario, a Filipina domestic worker whose death sentence by hanging is now on final appeal with the Kuwait’s Court of Cassation.

As migrant Filipinos we are concerned about the fate of Marilou Ranario and the family she left behind. We wish to make an appeal to spare her life for the sake of her family and loved ones who are now anxiously waiting for the result of the final appeal.

Please be assured that we do not wish to make any unnecessary trouble, and that our only intension in coming to your embassy is to deliver our message to the Kuwaiti government, to save the life of Marilou Ranario on humanitarian considerations, and to ease the pains and sufferings of her family most especially her two young children back in the Philippines.

Thank you very much and we pray for your kind understanding.


Sincerely yours,


FIILIPINO COMMUNITY IN JAPAN
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Filipinos in Tokyo Appeal for Mercy for Filipino Domestic Helper in Kuwait

We, the members of the Coalition of Filipino Organizations in Japan, especially The Philippine Women's League of Japan, invite all Filipinos residing and working in Japan to please join us in appealing to the government of Kuwait to stop the execution of MARILOU RANARIO, 35, a former domestic helper from Surigao del Norte, and if possible reduce her sentence in the name of truth and justice.

Please copy the letter below and send it to HIS HIGHNESS SHEIKH SABAH AL-AHMAD AL-JABER AL-SABAH, the Amir of the State of Kuwait as follows: Sample letter of appeal to the Kuwait Amir

~~~~~~~~~~

HIS HIGHNESS SHEIKH SABAH AL-AHMAD AL-JABER AL-SABAH
The Amir of the State of Kuwait
Al Diwan Al Amiri,
Sief Palace – Building 100
State of Kuwait.
Telephone: +965 888881
Fax: +965 2430559
amirsoffice@da.gov.kw


September 26, 2007


Your Highness,

I am writing to appeal to you, on humanitarian grounds, to spare the life of Filipino domestic worker Marilou Ranario, whose death sentence by hanging is now under final appeal with Kuwait’s Court of Cassation. I was informed that a final decision is expected sometime early next year.

I empathize greatly with Marilou’s plight because her story is one that is largely shared by countless other migrants.

Marilou is a young mother, wife, sister and daughter who wanted little more than a better life for her family. She is a teacher by profession but poverty compelled her to leave behind her children and work in Kuwait as a domestic worker. Her husband is a jeepney driver but until today, he does not have a regular source of income. It is truly tragic that in her bid to eke out a decent living for her children, she now faces the prospect of perhaps never seeing them again.

In this regard, I hope very much that the extreme conditions Marilou may have been subject to before the tragic death of her employer is considered. According to statements by Marilou’s family, Marilou reportedly told them that she was being severly maltreated and that the night before her employer’s death, she feared greatly for her life.

In closing, I wish to thank your Highness in advance for considering my letter of appeal and again, I hope very much that Marilou’s life may indeed be spared.

Your sincerely,


Name:
Address and Phone No.

~~~~~~~~~~

OVERVIEW:

MARILOU RANARIO, 35 years old, was arrested and imprisoned for the alleged murder of her female employer NajatMahmoud Faraj Mobarak on 11 January 2005.
She was sentenced to death by hanging by Kuwait’s Courtof First Instance on 28 September 2005. She appealed the verdict but Kuwait’s Court of Appeals upheld this sentence in February 2007.

Her case is now under final appeal with the highest court, the Court of Cassation. Oral arguments are set to start this November 13th with a final verdict to be released in the first quarter of 2008.

A closer look at her case reveals that Marilou is in fact more a victim than a criminal.
Marilou is a victim of a systemic poverty so intense that it forces more than 3,000 Filipinos daily to workoverseas just to survive. In her bid to earn a decent living for her family, Marilou grasped onto the knife’s edge and went to Kuwait as a domestic worker -- even though she is a teacher by profession.

Clearly, Marilou went abroad because of her dream to give her children a better life – and not to commit a crime in a foreign land. Marilou is a victim of abuse and human rights violations. She suffered maltreatment, verbal and physical abuse from her employer. She was also not given her salary, which was much needed by her family in thePhilippines, for three months.

Marilou is also a victim of the Arroyo administration’s criminal neglect. From January to September 2005, when she was sentenced to death by hanging, Marilou received very little assistance from the Arroyo administration.

FACT SHEET:

Marilou RanarioSentenced to death in Kuwait

In fact, from January to April, she was left completely on her own because it was only in April 2005 that she was even provided a lawyer to help with her defense.

In 2005, a Migrante International campaign to expose her plight and the government’s criminal neglect of her case compelled Vice-President Noli de Castro to bring Marilou’s parents to Kuwait for a visit with Marilou in prison in October 2006. But instead of helping her case, VP de Castro may have even worsened it by boastfully assuring the family and the public that Marilou’s life would be spared – especially considering how despite the letter of forgiveness or tanazul given by the family of Marilou’s victims, the Court of Appeals affirmed in February2007, the initial verdict of death by hanging.

Under Shariah Law, the personal aspect of the Marilou’s case is already resolved with the provision of the letter of forgiveness. However, this aspect is outweighed by the public aspect which is now being heard by the Court of Cassation or Kuwait’s highest court.

A major factor that may influence the court’s final decision is the presence of a massive outpouring of national and international support in favor of Marilou.The weeks remaining until the release of the final verdict in the first quarter of 2008 is the only window of hope left for Marilou and her family.

Let us maximize this time to mount a strong campaign that will generate an overwhelming public opinion for Marilou Ranario – an abused domestic worker, a teacher by profession and a young mother whose sole and simple dream was to build a better tomorrow for her young children and her family.

CHRONOLOGY:

December 10, 2003: Marilou leaves for a 2 year contract in Kuwait as a domestic worker
July 4, 2004: Her recruitment agency transfers her to a new employer, Kuwaiti Najat MahmoudFaraj Mubarak, 45 years old; however her visa was never transferred to this employer
January 11, 2005: Marilou allegedly kills her employer; surrenders to authorities
May 11, 2005: First Court hearing is held
June 1, 2005: Court refers Marilou to have her mental status assessed; she is admitted to the Psychological Hospital; findings show Marilou was sane during the incident
September 28, 2005: Marilou is sentenced to death by hanging by Judge Saleh Al-Houty and two other associates of the Court of First Instance of the Criminal Circuit Court
December 2005: Marilou’s family finds out about the death sentence after her father calls the Department of Foreign Affairs to inquire about the case; the family is denied a copy of the appeal the DFA states it submitted to the Court of Appeals for Marilou
February 17, 2007: Court of Appeals upholds the death sentence
September 15, 2007: Campaign countdown towards justice for Marilou is launched.