The Award Recipient’s Address

　I come from a remote community in Mindanao, the Southern Philippines, where people are caught in a war and their struggle for survival. Many women are forced to migrate to work in Japan or other places to support their families. In order to come to Japan to escape from poverty and conflict, some dare to take a high risk of being involved with various problems or even may not be informed of such a risk before coming to Japan.
　Historically, the biggest wave of Filipino visit to Japan came in the early 1980’s, when thousands of young women took advantages of opportunities to work there as Japan has one of the biggest sex-oriented entertainment industry in Asia. The need for young talented and attracted woman to fulfill the demand of the industry gave impetus to the massive inflow of woman from the Philippines, and neighboring Asian and other countries. Some of them got married to their Japanese costumers and live in Japan in a more stable status, but not necessarily with happy feeling.
　Filipino migration to Japan would continue as long as the current circumstances persist. Drastic measures must be undertaken to stop such abusive, exploitative and unprotected conditions that many Filipina suffer from. The governments of the Philippines and Japan ought to take responsibility for protecting and upholding their rights. In case of Japan, it has not yet ratified the basic rights of migrants as embodied in UN convention on the protection of the rights of all migrant workers and their families . That’s why I was highly impressed by the Sakai city, the first city in Japan to enact the Ordinance for Fostering Communities Respecting Peace and Human Rights.
　In Japan, I managed to establish KAFIN, a non-profit and community-based organization of Filipinos and Japanese to address the problems of the Filipino migrants in particular and foreign migrants in general.
　There are Filipino women in Japan who are victims of domestic violence or who are lured into prostitution and forced labor. Some of them were promised such jobs as a singer or dancer, but they ended up with an entertainer/ a hostess in a club/ pub. Others fall victims as mail-order brides, who entered Japan legally but caught by a syndicate which brokered instant brides for Japanese customers. The lack of communication between the couple may lead to unhappy relationship, including domestic violence.
　For years, KAFIN has taken responsibility to protect Filipino migrants with its limited resources by organizing and empowering such Filipinos at their respective community so that they can help each other. The main task of KAFIN Center is to empower the communities to stand up on their own feet and assert for their rights and rights of their families as a means to achieve it.
　One of the big joys of the KAFIN for more than 10 years in serving the Filipino migrants in Japan is the case of Rossana Tapiru with 9 single mothers who file a suit for the Japanese nationality of their children. At that time, Ms. Tapiru was the chairperson of KAFIN Tokyo in 2004, who led the petition campaign for the Japanese nationality of their children.
　In June 4, 2008, Japanese Supreme Court admitted the unconstitutionality of the law and propagated discrimination between legitimate and illegitimate children. It’s not a child fault that his / her parents were not married. Because of the Supreme Court ruling, the nationality law has been amended: those who are under 20 years old of age, born as illegitimate child of a Japanese father with his recognition of his child will be able to acquire Japanese nationality.
　My motivation for the activities in Japan stems from my life experience as a child of war. I was born and grown up in the conflict area in Mindanao. From my childhood, I learned how to escape from the bullets and survive from hunger during Marcos time. From this experience, I was not able to wait for becoming adult before I started to work as a volunteer in the biggest evacuation center at the age of 15 to help my fellow children and mothers who lost their husbands and sons due to the conflict.
　While the new government of the Philippines is expected to seriously solve the problems to end the war in the conflict areas, many people still remain at evacuation centers such as public halls, schools and churches. Some may return to their community temporarily during the day time, but in the night time they need to go back to the evacuation center.
　My heart and my mind remain to my fellow people in Mindanao. Every year, I collect used clothes, medicine from friends and supporters to send them to Mindanao for the relief and medical mission organized by local NGOs.
　Lastly, I would like to extend special thanks to the Health Assistance and Neighborhood Development Support (HANDS) for their supporting the disadvantaged mothers and children in Mindanao, including Ms. Yamazaki and Ms.Tamaki, who trusted me to endorse my name in this peace award. Thank you so much.