• 2 months ago
Arnold Clavio
Transcript
00:00Maricris Shoson was full of hope when she went to Japan.
00:04She was already 18 years old.
00:11But a cold body brought her back to the Philippines on September 25, 1991.
00:24The government of Japan said that she died of Hepatitis.
00:31But why does she have bruises and bruises on her body?
00:37Good evening, I am Arnold Glavio.
00:39Yesterday's questions will be answered here in Case Unclosed.
01:00On September 25, 1991, Maricris Shoson passed away.
01:21Oni Shoson Pacheco's world collapsed on September 25, 1991.
01:27Her younger brother, Maricris, who used to be full of energy,
01:31collided with a cold body at Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
01:36The woman worked in Japan for three years as an Overseas Performing Artist or OPA.
01:42It was very painful.
01:44She left the country very strongly.
01:46She will come to you like that.
01:48Instead of someone, you were the one who raised her.
01:54Of course, you feel bad inside.
01:57This was the first time that Oni visited her brother.
02:02He did not bring her to the airport when she left for Japan.
02:06He will accompany her in the work of Maricris in the so-called Land of the Rising Sun.
02:14It's like a mother to us.
02:16When she was small, until she grew up, she didn't say goodbye to me.
02:23When she left, she was the first one to leave.
02:26I was the only one who left.
02:30Maricris Shoson is from Tubong, Calabanga, Marines Sur.
02:33She is the 13th out of 14 siblings.
02:36They say that their life was difficult because their father, Mariano, was the captain of a ship.
02:41But their fate changed when Mariano died of cancer in Lalamuna in 1984.
02:48What pushed Maricris to go to Japan?
02:52When my father died, we lost everything.
02:56Of course, we were able to pay our debts.
03:00At first, Maricris did not want to be an entertainer in Japan.
03:04But she followed her mother's wishes to help her family.
03:09She stopped studying in her third year of high school.
03:12It took her a long time to achieve her dream of becoming a nurse.
03:17And ready, 1, 2, 3, 4.
03:20But even though Maricris is not good at dancing,
03:22she still learned how to dance for a year in a popular development center in Malabon.
03:27Maricris, we've been practicing for a long time.
03:31You still haven't learned?
03:33Again, from the start.
03:35And 1, 2, 3, 4.
03:37A promotion agency for those who want to work in Japan as an entertainer.
03:41Her mother brought her here directly from the province
03:47to help Maricris leave to help her family.
03:53After 17 years, the owner of the agency, Carmen Sita Kondo, still remembers everything.
04:01She's really good at dancing.
04:03She's beautiful.
04:05Charming.
04:06She's beautiful.
04:08Charming.
04:107, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
04:13According to the Department of Labor and Employment or DOLE,
04:1618 years should be the minimum age for women to go to Japan.
04:22But according to Oni, Maricris was only 16 years old.
04:25When we asked Oni and the owner of the agency,
04:28they told us who changed Maricris' age on her birth certificate.
04:35This was done by an agency that is 22 years old.
04:42She's 18 years old.
04:43That's why I don't know if they fixed her age or what.
04:47I don't know.
04:49She's 18 years old.
04:50That's why I don't know if they fixed her age or what.
04:53I don't know.
04:57Maricris left in 1989 to go to Tokyo, Japan.
05:02She accepted the path to help her family.
05:12Japayuki became a role model for others like Maricris.
05:16Actually, the term Japayuki is not a bad word.
05:22It just means going to Japan.
05:26According to Oni, Maricris' first life in Japan was good.
05:29She earned 350 dollars a month or more or less 8,000 pesos in exchange of that year's money.
05:40After her first contract, Maricris moved to Japan in 1990.
05:45With the help of her new agency, Sangle Burnaby International.
05:51Her income increased to 1,500 dollars or more or less 36,000 pesos per month.
06:00But unfortunately, the money that Maricris' mother sent to her was gone.
06:07She was so desperate.
06:11When I told her, she told my mother,
06:17for my brother, for him to live.
06:21Because he also won.
06:23It's not a good time for him to lose me.
06:27Maricris' destination was Fukushima City.
06:30Two to three hours from Tokyo.
06:37She worked at Faces Club from 1990 until her last flight in April 1991.
06:43So, who is that?
06:46Maricris.
06:51One of her nicknames is Keizo Sato, the owner of the club.
06:56Most of the parochial members of the club are rich.
07:00While in Fukushima, Maricris sent a letter to her family.
07:08I'm holding Maricris' last letter for her mother.
07:14It's dated August 5, 1991.
07:19The whole letter is written in Bicol.
07:23It's written in Bicol.
07:25But according to her mother, when she translated it to Filipino,
07:29it means, don't be noisy.
07:32We might meet again.
07:35I know something bad will happen.
07:38I'm in a bad mood.
07:40But it's a good thing that I'm gone.
07:44One month after receiving the letter,
07:46Are you Maricris' manager?
07:48a bad news from Maricris' manager, Manuel Samonte, shocked Oni.
07:55Don't be surprised.
07:57It's because Maricris is our current associate.
08:00Huh? Why?
08:02What happened to him?
08:07Maricris has been hospitalized for five days at Hanawa Welfare Hospital in Fukushima.
08:13He hasn't woken up since his coma.
08:23Because Maricris is in a coma, blood is coming out of his nose and ears.
08:31I was surprised.
08:33How can blood come out of the nose, ears, and mouth if there's no fracture?
08:44On September 14, 1991, Maricris was brought back to life.
08:52According to his death certificate issued by the hospital in Japan,
08:55he died of Multiple Organ Failure due to Fulminant or Malalang Hepatitis.
09:03But until now, Oni's belief is different.
09:07He hid these pictures of Maricris' body.
09:13I'm holding pictures of Maricris' body.
09:16When he came home, he was in a cold body.
09:19Because of his belief in life, Maricris was injured and killed.
09:28I saw his body.
09:33He had bruises and burns.
09:39I saw that he was not sick.
09:40He was not killed.
09:42If Maricris had Hepatitis, he should have died.
09:48But he didn't.
09:50Oni is not convinced that Maricris Soson died of Hepatitis.
09:56That's why he asked for help from the National Bureau of Investigation or NBI
10:00the day his body arrived from Japan.
10:02He had bruises on his head, especially on the back of his ears.
10:08He had a big hematoma.
10:11But the hematoma was more formed.
10:14According to the results of the NBI's autopsy on October 31, 1991,
10:19Maricris also had two bruises on his chest and left arm.
10:24He also had a deep cut on his forehead and a bruised part of his body.
10:28Maricris' biggest concern was his head.
10:31We identified a blood clot on his chest.
10:37When we opened his mouth,
10:40we found a big blood clot inside his mouth.
10:47At the time of the NBI's autopsy, traumatic head injuries were found.
10:52Maricris was killed by a knife.
10:54At the time of the NBI's autopsy, traumatic head injuries were found.
10:57Maricris died of Hepatitis.
11:00He was taken to the hospital where he was hospitalized in Japan.
11:06Under the order of former President Corazon Aquino,
11:09Dr. Arizala went to Japan a few months after Maricris' death.
11:14This is to show the NBI findings at Hanawa Welfare Hospital in Japan.
11:18In a press conference held at Hanawa Welfare Hospital,
11:22the doctors there testified that Maricris died of Hepatitis.
11:30Before the NBI's examination showed that Maricris had Hepatitis,
11:35they just started the examination and he was not yet cured.
11:39Hepatitis is really fatal.
11:41But in a state like this,
11:42it is not yet possible for Maricris' death to be cured.
11:51The attending physician, Dr. Yoshiki Hachiko,
11:55explained to Hanawa Welfare Hospital why Maricris had cuts and bruises on his body.
12:01While Maricris was in a coma,
12:03a catheter had to be inserted in his urethra for his urination.
12:08But they were sure that Maricris was not injured in the process.
12:12Maricris was also given dextrose for seven days while he was hospitalized.
12:16That is why it is normal for his arms to have bruises.
12:20You know, I am also a doctor.
12:23I also take dextrose.
12:25But not all the dextrose I take will cause hematoma.
12:28The cut on his left knee was possibly a blood clot when he was embalmed in Japan.
12:35It is limited in the Philippines.
12:36In the Philippines, if you ask the mortgagors,
12:39they will ask for dextrose.
12:41They will ask for dextrose.
12:43They go straight to the mortgagors.
12:46Maricris also went under the CT scan.
12:49That is why it is impossible for us to not see that he had a head injury.
12:57Despite the doctors' explanations in Japan,
13:00Maricris' last letter was the one that Oni believed.
13:03He mentioned that he was being imprisoned in his room owned by the Faces Club by Keizo Sato.
13:19Oni also believed that Maricris was helped to kill Keizo Sato
13:25and his former business partner Tanaka.
13:33No!
13:38He didn't agree.
13:41He didn't like it.
13:43Even if Maricris had sex,
13:47there will be a laceration in the sex organ, if not.
13:54Because of Maricris' questions about his death,
13:58a hearing was held in the Senate from October to November 1991.
14:03Former Senator Santanina Rasul,
14:06the No H.R. Person of the Senate Committee on Women and Family Relations.
14:09Because of that investigation,
14:12we found out that the Filipino women,
14:17they fled to our country because of poverty.
14:21They risked being abused, being mistreated and even loss of lives.
14:27But they didn't care about that.
14:30It is important for them to help their family.
14:34The Senate studied the findings of the NBI and doctors in Japan.
14:40But according to former Senator Rasul,
14:43Maricris' angle was more serious.
14:45He was a victim of corruption.
14:48Because of this, the Senate recommended that
14:51cases of abuse of Overseas Contract Workers should be given attention.
14:55This is the reason why the Republic Act 7192
15:00or Women in the Development and Nation Building Act
15:03This law mandated the allocation of a substantial amount of ODA,
15:11Official Development Assistance Funds.
15:14But unfortunately, the law was not implemented properly.
15:20I don't see any evidence of compliance with that law.
15:25There are also agencies,
15:28especially the Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Labor,
15:31TESDA,
15:33they are allocating specific programs for the empowerment of women.
15:40There is a lot of training, for example, there are a lot of entrepreneurship programs.
15:46Despite the recommendation of the Senate,
15:49there was no case against the Japanese employers of Maricris Shoson.
15:57I didn't follow up on what was happening.
15:59But our point was in aid of legislation.
16:04So after that, the executive, they are supposed to implement the law.
16:09If there is a case, they should be the one to implement the law.
16:12But our government was not able to do anything
16:17to find out what really killed Maricris.
16:22We don't have money to spend.
16:25What will I spend?
16:26I don't know.
16:28They should have given action.
16:30Even if it was hard for Maricris, they helped her.
16:33As far as I can remember,
16:35the DFA and the Dollar were instructed by President Aquino to help the family.
16:41For the record, we tried to do the best we could during that time, the Aquino administration.
16:49Maricris Shoson's death pushed former President Aquino
16:52to implement a temporary ban on sending Filipinos to Japan.
16:57What the Dollar did was to put in more stricter measures
17:03to protect the Filipina entertainment.
17:07But after us, the administration of President Ramos, I think, lifted it already.
17:13Some of these policemen have the Artist Accreditation Card or AAC
17:19for those who want to work in Japan.
17:20This system is very strict because they had to undergo all of these trainings.
17:29If you say that this is your skill,
17:32you need to show that you really have that skill.
17:37In Department Order No. 21 of the Department of Labor and Employment or DOLE,
17:42the minimum age to work in Japan was increased to 21 years.
17:46But according to the Development Action for Women Network or DON,
17:48it seems that the government did not enforce the changes after what happened to Maricris.
17:56Right after Maricris Shoson, the age limit was increased to 23 years.
18:02They introduced other requirements.
18:07Later, there were a lot of exemptions.
18:13You can be 21 years old provided the Secretary of Labor approves it.
18:18Do you know how many are 18 years old now?
18:21The POE wants a higher age.
18:25Older than 18.
18:27But because of the agencies themselves, the industry itself,
18:32they really clamored.
18:35There were a lot of meetings, a lot of petitions.
18:38Until we came up with a new issuance saying that it is 18 years old.
18:46There are also built-in security or control mechanisms
18:52to ensure that even if she is 18 years old, she will not be put in danger.
18:58According to some critics, the relationship between the Philippines and Japan was not affected after what happened to Maricris.
19:05Our government, they support the Japanese government findings.
19:12That is what disappointed us.
19:17This proves the increase of the number of Filipinos going to Japan.
19:21From 20,183 in 1996, it increased to 77,870 in 2002.
19:32Despite the government's inaction, Oney did not stop looking for an answer.
19:38With the help of Peace Vote, a non-government organization in Japan,
19:43she moved to Japan in 1992.
19:46When we got there, it was clear that Maricris' associates
19:53told us that something bad was going to happen.
19:59Because no one spoke, she was left alone.
20:02That is why they were silent. They were afraid that they would be followed.
20:10When Oney was asked about the secret,
20:13she confirmed that Keizo Sato and his wife were members of the Yakuza group.
20:20Sato is the brother of Yakuza.
20:24Yakuza is the leader of Yakuza.
20:27In the 1970s, when the economy of Japan expanded,
20:37especially Japan, the operation of gangs in Japan also expanded.
20:42Yakuza emerged as the biggest organization.
20:50Most of the Yakuza are the owners of nightclubs in Japan.
20:54They also recruit women from other Asian countries to work in Japan as entertainers.
21:02It is a criminal gang in the first place.
21:05They use secret threats.
21:10If a woman is forced to prostitute herself,
21:16she will be locked up.
21:20We tried to get information about Maricris' case in the Philippines,
21:26but they refused to give us a statement.
21:28Sangle Bernabe International sent us an email
21:32stating that Maricris' agency will kill her.
21:35For them, the case is closed.
21:39But until now, Oni is still looking for justice and answers
21:44to the questions that seem to be forgotten for 17 years.
21:47They admitted that they received from Maricris' manager
21:51the back pay of 5,500 dollars or 140,000 pesos.
21:57But for Oni, there is no equivalent value
22:01that can bring back the life of her brother, Maricris.
22:08It's been 17 years, but for Oni,
22:11the death of her brother, Maricris, is still fresh in her mind.
22:14It's important for me to see that someone will be punished
22:18for what they did to my brother.
22:24According to the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration or POEA,
22:281,475 Filipinos went to Japan in 2008
22:35as new entertainers and skilled workers.
22:38This is a big number compared to the 32,636 Filipinos
22:45who went to Japan in 1989.
22:48Now, to be given a certificate of eligibility,
22:52to be issued a visa, the requirement of the Japanese government
22:56is that either the entertainer has two-year work experience
23:02as an entertainer outside of Japan
23:04or two-year formal education in entertainment.
23:09But if there are still Filipinos who want to find luck in Japan,
23:14there are different women here in the Development Action for Women Network or DON,
23:19who decided to make a decision here in our country.
23:22Each of them has a bitter experience from Japan.
23:27At first, it's just shopping.
23:30After that, it's like you're invited to a hotel.
23:35One of my experiences is that he invited me and I refused.
23:40Then he told me to go home alone in an apartment.
23:46Here, they are used to earning money, having a hobby,
23:50and having other knowledge that can be used for earning money.
23:53They should think about it before they go abroad
23:57because life is hard now,
23:59especially when you live abroad,
24:02you're not used to it.
24:05This is also the story of Cesar Mindanao's son, Ruby,
24:09who became an entertainer in Japan in 1986.
24:13Ruby was only 18 years old at that time.
24:16For his father, if he has a chance to go back in time,
24:19he won't let him leave.
24:23Ruby was married to an engineer named Masanobu Yoshino.
24:27But on November 4, 2007,
24:31a news shocked his family.
24:34His son is here in the Philippines.
24:37He called me.
24:39He said,
24:41Mama,
24:43we found the victim.
24:47Now,
24:49if you revive him, we'll cry at home.
24:52As a result of the autopsy in Japan,
24:55Ruby committed suicide by hanging.
24:59But just like the family of Maricris Yoson,
25:01Cesar also doubts the death of his son.
25:04He believes that his husband, Masanobu,
25:07is the one who killed him.
25:09Because there are news reports
25:13and rumors that he's being beaten,
25:16he's being stabbed,
25:18he doesn't want to talk to his fellow Filipinos.
25:23Sometimes, he's being shown a samurai.
25:26They do that to him when they're fighting.
25:29Even if Cesar wants to file a case against his son's wife,
25:34he couldn't do it because he didn't receive any help from the government.
25:39That's when you're walking with your passport
25:42that something bad happened to your son.
25:45They can see that I have a death certificate.
25:48That's when I was taught
25:51that a victim's parents
25:55are their own children.
25:57If you want to go to the Philippines,
26:00you have to file a non-charge.
26:02Here in the DAP,
26:04if you want to go to the Philippines,
26:06nothing will happen to you.
26:09The Department of Foreign Affairs
26:11and our post there in Japan,
26:14they did everything.
26:16But based on the autopsy,
26:20it was found out that Ruby died
26:22and the reason why Ruby died.
26:25We also respect the findings of the medical legal officer
26:30and the authorities of Japan.
26:34No court has proven that Ruby Mindanao
26:38or Maricris Shoson is a victim of violence.
26:40For their family,
26:42they will continue to look for the truth
26:45in their love for life.
26:48For Oni,
26:50Maricris' body is enough evidence
26:52to say that he was killed
26:54and he did not die of illness.
26:56The only wish of his relatives
26:59is to be helped by the government
27:01who is trying to cover up
27:03the situation of our countrymen
27:05who are being abused in other countries
27:07so that they will not repeat
27:09what Calvario said to others.
27:11Until next Thursday,
27:13I am Arnold Clavio.
27:15The questions of yesterday
27:17will be answered in this episode of Case Unclosed.