Migrants' group condemns murder of Pinay in Tokyo
04/08/2008 | 02:12 PM
MANILA, Philippines - The Migrante chapter in Japan condemned on Tuesday the gruesome murder of 22-year-old Filipina Honiefaith Ratilla Kamiosawa whose mutilated body was found in an apartment in Tokyo last Friday.
“We demand that justice be served for the victim and her family," Migrante-Japan spokesperson Donna Beltran said in a press statement.
Japanese police arrested on Monday Hiroshi Nozaki, 48, as a prime suspect in the murder of the Filipina.
Kamiosawa was initially recorded by the police as missing pending official identification of the torso and other body parts found in a suitcase hidden in a locker in the World Trade Center building in Tokyo’s Minato-ku district.
Nozaki was said to be a roommate of Kamiosawa, who worked as a nightclub hostess in the Roppongi district. They shared an apartment with two other Filipino women.
The Mainichi Daily News reported that Nozaki was arrested in January 2000 for mutilating a 27-year-old Filipina he was dating in 1999. He was later convicted and imprisoned for the offense.
After chopping off Kamiosawa’s body, the report said Nozaki tried to kill himself by slashing his wrists on Sunday night in Kawaguchi, Saitama Prefecture. He called for an ambulance when the suicide failed.
Police believed Kamiosawa could have been killed on Thursday night. Kamiosawa’s dismembered head has not been found.
“Honiefaith's life had to end this early and under such horrible circumstances. Her death reminds us of our plight as migrant Filipinos and how vulnerable we are to various forms of violence and abuse in the host country," Beltran said in the statement.
According to her, Migrante Japan and its allied organizations have vowed to support and pursue justice for Kamiosawa as well as for her family and the families of other victims of heinous crimes committed against overseas Filipinos.
“Honiefaith came to Japan to escape poverty in the Philippines. It is now ironic that what she deemed would help uplift her economic condition would also be the cause of her untimely death," she said.
The activist migrants’ group said it holds the Arroyo administration accountable for what happened to Kamiosawa who, Beltran said, left her family in the Philippines out of poverty and try her luck in Japan.
“We blame the government for mismanaging our economy and failure in governance, for massive corruption, and for the criminal neglect of migrant Filipinos around the world," Beltran said.
Last month, 33-year-old Crisanta Mahusay Lopez and her seven-month-old son were murdered by her Japanese husband, also in Tokyo.
Migrante also recalled the case of a Filipino who was almost burned to death when her Japanese live-in partner poured kerosene over her body and set her on fire.
“We condemn these heinous crimes committed against fellow migrant Filipinos because these crimes have no place in a civilized society, and they happened at a time when foreign migrants in Japan are being portrayed as criminals to justify government's continued crackdown on ‘overstays,’ Beltran said. – GMANews.TV
“We demand that justice be served for the victim and her family," Migrante-Japan spokesperson Donna Beltran said in a press statement.
Japanese police arrested on Monday Hiroshi Nozaki, 48, as a prime suspect in the murder of the Filipina.
Kamiosawa was initially recorded by the police as missing pending official identification of the torso and other body parts found in a suitcase hidden in a locker in the World Trade Center building in Tokyo’s Minato-ku district.
Nozaki was said to be a roommate of Kamiosawa, who worked as a nightclub hostess in the Roppongi district. They shared an apartment with two other Filipino women.
The Mainichi Daily News reported that Nozaki was arrested in January 2000 for mutilating a 27-year-old Filipina he was dating in 1999. He was later convicted and imprisoned for the offense.
After chopping off Kamiosawa’s body, the report said Nozaki tried to kill himself by slashing his wrists on Sunday night in Kawaguchi, Saitama Prefecture. He called for an ambulance when the suicide failed.
Police believed Kamiosawa could have been killed on Thursday night. Kamiosawa’s dismembered head has not been found.
“Honiefaith's life had to end this early and under such horrible circumstances. Her death reminds us of our plight as migrant Filipinos and how vulnerable we are to various forms of violence and abuse in the host country," Beltran said in the statement.
According to her, Migrante Japan and its allied organizations have vowed to support and pursue justice for Kamiosawa as well as for her family and the families of other victims of heinous crimes committed against overseas Filipinos.
“Honiefaith came to Japan to escape poverty in the Philippines. It is now ironic that what she deemed would help uplift her economic condition would also be the cause of her untimely death," she said.
The activist migrants’ group said it holds the Arroyo administration accountable for what happened to Kamiosawa who, Beltran said, left her family in the Philippines out of poverty and try her luck in Japan.
“We blame the government for mismanaging our economy and failure in governance, for massive corruption, and for the criminal neglect of migrant Filipinos around the world," Beltran said.
Last month, 33-year-old Crisanta Mahusay Lopez and her seven-month-old son were murdered by her Japanese husband, also in Tokyo.
Migrante also recalled the case of a Filipino who was almost burned to death when her Japanese live-in partner poured kerosene over her body and set her on fire.
“We condemn these heinous crimes committed against fellow migrant Filipinos because these crimes have no place in a civilized society, and they happened at a time when foreign migrants in Japan are being portrayed as criminals to justify government's continued crackdown on ‘overstays,’ Beltran said. – GMANews.TV
