Laundromat
worker Lorna Quikota witnessed firsthand "how the Japanese do it."
Just
six months after 40-meter waves swept across her city in the Tohoku region,
she’s back on her feet. The local government has not only built her a new,
fully furnished home, but is also placing her in a new job.
To think that not too long ago, she was
wandering the devastated streets of Ishinomaki looking for food and her missing
husband.
But even in a country famous for its
resiliency like Japan, Filipinos like Quikota appreciate that invaluable
support, that "extra-push," coming from a kababayan. That’s why she
and the rest of the Filipino migrant community are looking forward to President
Aquino’s visit to Tohoku on Monday.
The President left for Japan Sunday morning,
just two days after arriving from the US.
"I hope our President could help those of
us in need," she said in Filipino.
Donation package
Aquino will turn over a donation package to
the mayor of Ishinomaki City, his way of commiserating with the hundreds of
residents—including Filipinos—who lost loved ones in the twin disasters that
struck northeastern Japan on March 11.
Foreign Assistant Secretary Maria Theresa
Lazaro described the President’s visit to Tohoku as "a gesture of
continuing solidarity with Japan."
Aquino will spend most of the day touring the
region, where more than 10,000 people perished following a 9-magnitude
earthquake and the ensuing tsunami that ravaged towns and cities up to 10 km
inland.
Among the fatalities were Quikota’s Japanese
husband and an in-law, whose bodies were not recovered until a month later.
Quikota herself almost got killed when the rushing seawater nearly swept her
off the street.
When the water subsided, she recalled, the
scene that followed was pure devastation: bodies lay all over, houses were
flattened.
3 days without food
"Those were hard times," said
Quikota, who has been living in Japan for nine years.
"That’s when I experienced having nothing
to eat for three days. I walked the muddy streets. We had no water in the
evacuation center. And I kept thinking where I could find my husband and my
in-law. So many people were dead," she said.
Quikota and her neighbors are now picking up
the pieces. Part of the struggle is dealing with the stigma attached to victims
who were living near the nuclear plants affected by the earthquake and tsunami.
That’s why visitors to Tohoku—including
journalists covering President Aquino’s visit—are advised not to mention
anything about "radiation" or "disaster" when they mingle
with the locals lest they hit a raw nerve.
Mr. Aquino’s itinerary includes the Kadonowake
Junior High School Evacuation Center and the Ishinomaki Catholic Church where
he will meet with the Filipino community.
Civic-mindedness
In Manila, Undersecretary Abigail Valte,
deputy presidential spokesperson, said: "The President wants to express
our solidarity with the Japanese because what they went through is no laughing
matter."
Valte said the President was particularly keen
on seeing how the technologically advanced but disaster-prone nation managed to
recover from the March crisis at an astonishing speed, and how the Japanese
people showed "civic-mindedness" even during calamities.
Valte noted that the Japan disasters happened
as the deadline for paying taxes drew near. Yet in its horrible aftermath and
"a few days after the deadline, the Japanese were still lining up to pay
their taxes. Aquino said their civic-mindedness was really an example that
should be followed by everyone," she added.
Aquino would also take a look into Japan’s
disaster preparedness systems, the Palace official said on state-run radio
station dzRB.
63-member delegation
The government is spending around 20 million
pesos (US$457,195) for the President’s three-day working visit, which is
expected to reap at least $1 billion in fresh investments and more than 9
billion yen in development assistance.
Aquino and his 63-member delegation are going
to Japan at the invitation of the Japanese government via a special commercial
flight, according to Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr.
Among the official delegates are Foreign
Secretary Albert del Rosario, Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo, Finance
Secretary Cesar Purisima, Transportation Secretary Manuel Roxas II and Energy
Secretary Rene Almendras.
Aquino will pay a state call on Japanese
Emperor Akihito and meet with the new prime minister, Yoshihiko Noda, to
discuss a wide array of issues advancing Manila and Tokyo’s strategic
partnership.
Christian V. Esguerra
Philippine Daily Inquirer
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