OPAs accuse RP, Japan officials of lying

A coalition of overseas performing artists said yesterday that officials of the Philippine and Japanese governments were lying when they promised there would be no reduction in the deployment of OPAs to Japan despite Japan’s strict new immigration policy.

OPA Koalisyon official Maureen Advincula cited figures indicating that very few entertainers were being granted working visas by Japan at this time.

"In three months’ time — or specifically by June this year – the effects of Japan’s stringent visa restrictions for artists seeking jobs (there) will be felt more strongly, with only a few leaving for Japan, even less than the projected 10 percent of the present 80,000 OPAs," she said.

The new immigration policy was implemented on March 15.

This scenario compelled the OPA Koalisyon to ask the country’s lawmakers to review the bilateral ties between the Philippines and Japan, claiming that an unequal relationship exists between the two countries.

The group also urged President Arroyo to lodge a formal protest against what they called the inequality in the country’s bilateral relationship with Japan.

The coalition also alleged that officials of the Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of Labor and Employment and the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration seem to have "sold out" to the Japanese government after two lawmakers released a series of exposés on Manila’s supposed misrepresentation of OPA concerns. — Nestor Etolle