The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has committed to extend "humanitarian assistance" to a Filipino couple who were asked to leave Japan due to illegal staying, a diplomatic source said.

"The DFA officials expressed readiness to send humanitarian assistance to the Filipino couple and their daughter should they decide to go back to the Philippines," the source said. Japan threatened to deport Arlan and Sarah Calderon who were discovered to have entered Japan with fake passports almost 17 years ago.

The assistance, the source said, includes services provided by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to help the child adjust in her new home, he said.

The source said the Philippine government couldn't give in to the couple's request to remain in Japan because it would only send the wrong signal to the international community. "What can we do? They're asking to stay in Japan. Does it mean that they don't want to stay in the Philippines?" he asked.

The Japanese government is mulling whether to deport Arlan and Sarah Calderon because of their irregular status. Their 13-year-old daughter, Noriko, who was born in Japan and speaks only Japanese, has publicly stated her intention to remain in Japan. The Japanese Ministry of Justice has given her two options--to go back to Philippines with her parents or to remain in Japan alone.

The Calderon couple has appealed to the Japanese government to let them stay in Japan until Noriko finishes her studies but the government denied their request.

The United Nations has asked for the records of the Calderons to be reviewed, while the Amnesty International called on Tokyo authorities to stop deportation procedures for the couple to remain with their daughter in Japan.

Amnesty International's Asia-Pacific Deputy Programme Director Roseann Rife challenged the Japanese government to uphold its international obligations "by placing the interests of the child as the primary consideration in all actions and deporting Noriko’s parents would clearly be counter to her best interests."

She noted that the Japan is a state party to the Convention of the Rights of the Child, which states that "State Parties shall ensure that a child shall not be separated from his or her parents against their will, except when competent authorities subject to judicial review determine, in accordance with applicable law and procedures, that such separation is necessary for the best interests of the child."