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Tuesday, April 12, 2005
Estanislao: Japan's iron fist
By Jacqueline Estanislao
Part I
JAPAN has taken on the headlines again after it imposed stricter measures on Filipino overstays as well as Filipino entertainers, the only sector of our labor force that easily gets a visa to Japan. The Department of Labor realizes that this could reduce the number of overseas contract workers dramatically but their pleas for a moratorium on the new law fell on deaf ears.
Lani hails from Palawan. She first set foot in Japan some 13 years ago as an entertainer. She was fourteen then, barely out of elementary school. She was introduced to her talent manager by a neighbor whose daughter had earlier left for the Land of the Rising Sun. She was ecstatic, was hopeful and optimistic, as she became witness to her neighbor's seeming affluence after only a year of working in Japan.
Her ultimate goal as the issuance of an artist record book. This was her only passport to the realization of her dreams. Her documents were prepared by the promotion agency, which took her in and thus, started her on long hours of back-breaking dance routines. She had to stay in the talent house, fed a low-calorie diet and maintained a set of beauty regimen that would prepare her for competitiveness in that trade. She will also have to leave the country using a different name, as she is under age.
With the advent of the new law however, a 14-year-old loses the chance of coming to Japan under an assumed name because the following requirements should first be met: one should have been an entertainer in an Asian country outside of the Philippines and is a graduate of Performing Arts or Music. It is indeed, a very tall order considering that the job of an entertainer is not at all considered a profession and has a negative connotation. One would rather spend for a career in the arts or the sciences. Also, it is extremely difficult to produce fake school certificates or records of work eligibility, as has become a common practice among promotion agencies.
It is a known fact that one of the reasons for Japan's imposition of stricter measures is the rampant corruption among the government agencies issuing the artist record book. I have heard of numerous cases where one only needs to pay a transactional cost of P30,000-P50,000 and is thus guaranteed a career as an entertainer. Japan's Immigration Bureau has documented numerous anomalies on entertainer's visas, from "look-alikes" or a different person using someone else's passport to an outright substitution of the stamped visa, popularly known as "baklas."
These incidents make the Japanese conclude that the entertainer visa legitimizes child abuse and becomes a tool for human trafficking. The government enters into compromises and secret arrangements with promotions and a career as an entertainer opens the door to prostitution. It is not uncommon, therefore, that the Japanese people have a low regard for Filipinos in Japan. A clear indication is the Japanese husband's treatment of the Filipina wife, who almost always came from a job in the club.
I remember a lot of my Japanese friends' seeming disbelief when I introduce myself as a Filipina. No, no Filipina can be this educated. No, no Filipina can speak English like a native speaker. No, no Filipina can be this good. I have never realized until now how much those comments hurt.
(April 12, 2005 issue)
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