HALF-BREED
There are some people in the Philippines who will be happy to be reminded about a law in Japan which allows persons born of Japanese parents who were in the Philippines before and after the Pacific War to return to Japan.
Many of these people were sent to the Philippines as spies, working in small department stores, restaurants and halo-halo and mongo con hielo parlors. Quite a number worked as gardeners of affluent people, mostly Americans.
Sorry, but the law, sad to say, does not apply to children of so-called comfort women. Japanese law discriminates against mixed marriages. There is a general racist attitude here against half-breeds.
During the American occupation of Japan, children born of U.S. servicemen and Japanese women were scoffed at and otherwise ostracized by Japanese society. Many had to leave Japan.
In the Philippines, children born of U.S. servicemen and local women had happier fates. Here, children of mixed marriages enjoy privileged status, especially if one of the parents is a Caucasian.
On the other hand, there exists a bill in the U.S. Congress which grants U.S. citizenship to some 50,000 children left behind in the Philippines after the U.S. bases here were closed. Most of these abandoned kids were living around Clark Air Base in Angeles, Pampanga, and Subic Naval Base in Olongapo, Zambales. Many of these kids have been living on charity and not a few have turned to drugs, prostitution and criminality after their stateside fathers failed to send money for their support. Many of their mothers worked in the seedy bars and clubs which sprouted outside the U.S. bases and had illicit relations with American servicemen.
This bill corrects an injustice against Amerasians in the Philippines. A law had been previously passed granting U.S. citizenship to abandoned kids left by American dads in Vietnam and Korea.
It was never the fault of these pitiful children, and that is why they need all the help they can get to be united with their American fathers, or perhaps receive some kind of support if they don't get to step on American soil.
There are some people in the Philippines who will be happy to be reminded about a law in Japan which allows persons born of Japanese parents who were in the Philippines before and after the Pacific War to return to Japan.
Many of these people were sent to the Philippines as spies, working in small department stores, restaurants and halo-halo and mongo con hielo parlors. Quite a number worked as gardeners of affluent people, mostly Americans.
Sorry, but the law, sad to say, does not apply to children of so-called comfort women. Japanese law discriminates against mixed marriages. There is a general racist attitude here against half-breeds.
During the American occupation of Japan, children born of U.S. servicemen and Japanese women were scoffed at and otherwise ostracized by Japanese society. Many had to leave Japan.
In the Philippines, children born of U.S. servicemen and local women had happier fates. Here, children of mixed marriages enjoy privileged status, especially if one of the parents is a Caucasian.
On the other hand, there exists a bill in the U.S. Congress which grants U.S. citizenship to some 50,000 children left behind in the Philippines after the U.S. bases here were closed. Most of these abandoned kids were living around Clark Air Base in Angeles, Pampanga, and Subic Naval Base in Olongapo, Zambales. Many of these kids have been living on charity and not a few have turned to drugs, prostitution and criminality after their stateside fathers failed to send money for their support. Many of their mothers worked in the seedy bars and clubs which sprouted outside the U.S. bases and had illicit relations with American servicemen.
This bill corrects an injustice against Amerasians in the Philippines. A law had been previously passed granting U.S. citizenship to abandoned kids left by American dads in Vietnam and Korea.
It was never the fault of these pitiful children, and that is why they need all the help they can get to be united with their American fathers, or perhaps receive some kind of support if they don't get to step on American soil.
(Image from http://www.aahope.org/)
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