THEY were able to elude the Japanese authorities for 16
years, posing as a Japanese couple. But one day, a knock on the door ended their
"tago-nang-tago" (TNT) status and finally, Arlan Calderon and wife Sarah were
deported from Japan, arriving home at 10:20 pm Sunday.
Both are still hoping to return to Tokyo to rejoin their only
daughter who had been left behind in the care of relatives.
Arlan and Sarah, in their late 30’s, were charged with
overstaying and are now back at C. Fajardo St. Tondo, Manila, their listed
residence. The couple said they would be looking for a job to tide them over
until they could reapply for a visitor’s visa to see their daughter Noriko, 13.
Arlan said they were not blacklisted by Japanese authorities.
Noriko is now in junior high in Saitama Prefecture, about
15-30 kilometers north of central Tokyo, where the Calderons used to reside.
Noriko, who only speaks Japanese, was left in the care of Arlan’s sister-in-law
who is married to a Japanese businessman. She carries a special residence visa.
"One day, three Japanese police came to our house to tell us
that we’re being arrested and questioned for overstaying," Arlan said in Tagalog.
Having been away too long, the couple seemed ill at ease talking in Tagalog but
were fluent in Nihongo which they used in talking with Japanese reporters,
ignoring local reporters who tried to talk to them in Tagalog, and in English
which they could barely speak.
The couple came to Japan in 1993 where Sarah initially
engaged in selling goods with the help of relatives while Arlan was accepted as
a demolition hand in a construction firm.
Arlan said Noriko would not listen if they tried to speak to
her in Tagalog. "We tried to teach her her own language but she would have none
of it. And when she goes out of the house, all of her friends and classmates are
Japanese."
The couple said Noriko could apply for naturalization when
she turns 16 or 18 and they hope she will petition Japanese authorities to bring
them back to live with her in Japan. – Jay Chua