Filipino couple depart Japan leaving 13-yr-old daughter behind+

NARITA, Japan, April 13 Kyodo - An undocumented Filipino couple, who were under a deportation order, left Japan from Narita airport Monday afternoon to return to the Philippines, leaving behind their 13-year-old daughter who was born and raised in Japan and recently
granted special permission to stay for one year.

Arlan Calderon, 36, and his 38-year-old wife Sarah arrived at the international
airport near Tokyo with their only daughter Noriko, who burst into tears as she
saw them off.
While repeatedly expressing his appreciation for the Japanese people who had
taken their problem to heart, Arlan told reporters that he is ''very worried
(about leaving behind) my daughter as she is still a minor. She cannot take
care of herself.''
Sarah expressed concern about her daughter's safety and health, saying, ''I
(told her) to take care of herself and make sure she doesn't catch a cold.''
Their departure came a day before the expiration of their provisional release
status on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Noriko, who has been entrusted to the care of Sarah's younger
sister, said that she is anxious about her life as a whole and school ''because
it is my first time living apart from my parents.''
''I won't be able to eat the delicious food my mother cooks,'' she said, adding
that her parents are ''irreplaceable.''
''But it's not like we're never going to see each other,'' said the teenager,
who recently became a second-year student at a junior high school in Warabi,
Saitama Prefecture. ''I hope I can show them (the next time we meet) that I do
my best.''
Earlier in the day, relatives and Arlan's colleagues gathered at the family's
home in Warabi to bid farewell to the couple.
''We will be waiting for you (to come back),'' said construction worker
Yasuhisa Nagashima, one of Arlan's colleagues, adding that it would not be
''goodbye.''
Arlan hugged each of his colleagues and thanked them for their kindness.
''Noriko is here, so I hope we can return to her side as soon as possible,''
Arlan said, adding that he hoped the day would come when the family would ''be
able to live quietly together in Japan.''
The family had long been seeking special permission for residence for the whole
family. But while the Justice Ministry granted Noriko special permission to
stay, it declined to extend a hand to the parents.
In mid-March, the Filipino couple told Japanese immigration authorities that
they would return to the Philippines in April, leaving behind their daughter
who has strongly expressed her wish to stay in Japan to continue her studies.
She said she wanted ''to stay in Japan to pursue my dream of opening a dance
school in Japan with my best friend.''
The couple decided to split the family for fear that Noriko could also be
detained and deported should the family continue to seek permission for the
whole family to remain despite a request from the immigration authorities that
they choose between the departure of the entire family or just the parents,
according to the family's lawyer Shogo Watanabe.
The Justice Ministry's decision to grant permission to Noriko came three days
after her parents decided to leave the country.
Noriko will now live with her aunt, who has obtained permanent residence
status, and her Japanese uncle. Her relatives will move from Tokyo's Kita Ward,
where they currently reside, to Warabi to allow Noriko to continue her
education there.
But as it is expected that Noriko will require some assistance in continuing
her life in Japan, the lawyer set up a fund in March aimed at helping Noriko
with her future educational and living expenses.
According to Watanabe, the fund had raised 1.58 million yen as of last Friday.
As for the Filipino couple's livelihood back in the Philippines, Arlan said
that nothing has been decided yet, except that he and his wife will move in
with Arlan's mother who lives in Manila.
''The Philippines is not like Japan,'' he said, adding that it still remains
unclear if he would be able to find a job there.
Meanwhile on Sunday afternoon, the family of three handed out around 600 thank
you cards, designed by Noriko, on street corners in Warabi to ''express our
sincere thanks and appreciation to the Japanese people,'' Arlan said.
Arlan Calderon came to Japan in May 1993, a year after his wife. Both entered
the country using other people's passports and stayed undetected in Japan.
Their daughter was born in 1995.
The couple filed a lawsuit seeking nullification of the deportation order
against them, but the Supreme Court rejected their petition last September.
==Kyodo