Family feud

The country’s judicial system is enmeshed in a family dispute that should have been filed and heard by Japanese courts.

The quarrel over money between Japanese gaming tycoon Kazuo Okada and his children – and their respective surrogates – has spilled over into the Philippines through the Okada Manila, a 42-hectare five-star hotel/casino complex with a scenic oceanfront view in Parañaque City.

Okada is supposedly one of the biggest, if not the biggest, of its kind in the country.

Criminal and civil cases have been filed by both camps against each other over the ownership of Okada Manila. Ownership of the hotel complex has changed hands several times between the old man and his offspring.

On Monday, tycoon Okada was arrested by the police at the Manila international airport upon his arrival from Japan, because of warrants of arrest.

The arrest warrants, issued by the Parañaque Metropolitan Trial Court’s branches (90 and 91), were in connection with charges of grave coercion following the elder Okada’s takeover of the hotel/casino complex.

The complainant is the Tiger Resort Leisure and Entertainment Inc. on behalf of its officers James Lorenzana, Hajime Tokuda and Michiake Satate.

The arrest was meant to publicly humiliate Old Man Okada in retaliation for his surrogates’ – Tonyboy Cojuangco, Dindo Espeleta and Florentino Herrera – “forcible” takeover of the integrated casino hotel.

The police Aviation Security Group served the warrant of arrest as Mr. Okada was in the airport, having arrived from abroad.

“I insisted on coming back to the Philippines despite several warnings from my lawyers that I may be detained by authorities. I want to show to the Filipino people and to the world that I am not afraid,” said Okada.

Being the owner, Okada is the founding chairman of Okada Manila.

His children, represented by surrogates, wanted to grab ownership of the hotel from him saying, in effect, that he was already too old to decide for himself.

The Supreme Court has reinstated Okada as chairman and CEO of the integrated casino complex.

The gaming tycoon was ousted from his own company in 2017, after his children charged him with fraud.

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Which parties are benefiting from the father-children quarrel? The lawyers of both camps, who are paid handsomely; some big-time politicians, who have dipped their fingers into the proverbial pie and policemen, who are paid off whenever a takeover order is issued from either of the camps.

And, of course, the surrogates of both Okada and his children, who earn huge amounts from either camp.

Can’t the father and his children settle their differences without the interference of the courts and outsiders?

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What’s the moral of the Okada family saga?

If you are super wealthy and you’re not dying anytime soon, never involve your children in running your business.

Include your spouse, children and other relatives in your last will and testament, but don’t involve them in running your business affairs.

Children and their spouses will quarrel over what they think they should inherit while you’re still alive. Even if your children are closely bonded, their spouses will get into the picture and prompt your children to quarrel among themselves.

We’ve seen that in wealthy families fighting over the wealth their patriarchs or matriarchs built over the years.

I don’t have to mention these squabbling families because they’re in the news.

However, there are very few exceptions. The Sy siblings of the famed mega-chain of SM Malls have become even closer after patriarch Henry Sy Sr. passed on.

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A retired teacher in Hong Kong was given a suspended sentence by the court for assaulting her Filipina domestic helper.

Chow Ching Yee and her relatives were also barred for life from hiring Filipino domestic helpers.

Ruby Caman had complained that Chow pulled her hair and slapped her after she refused to give her a massage, which is not a part of her job contract.

Caman is lucky she is employed as a domestic in Hong Kong, which has an excellent judicial system, patterned after that of Britain, its former colonizer.

Aside from Hong Kong, Singapore laws also treat household helpers on equal status with its residents.

However, other countries, such as those in the Middle East – particularly Saudi Arabia and Kuwait – treat household helpers like slaves.

If I were a household helper, I wouldn’t apply for a job in the Middle East.

Almost every day, Filipina domestic helpers are repatriated from Middle East countries after suffering maltreatment from their employers.

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Filipino health care workers – doctors, nurses, medical technologists, laboratory technicians and others in the medical fields – are lucky because they’re treated with respect in other countries where they work.

Yes, including those working in the Middle East.

Pinoy health care workers are in demand everywhere because of their intelligence and diligence.

That’s the reason we have nurses and other medical workers employed in big hospitals in many parts of the Middle East, Europe and the United States.

Saskatchewan, a province in Canada, has expressed its desire to hire hundreds of health workers from the Philippines.

Saskatchewan is negotiating a memorandum of agreement with the Philippine government for recruiting health care professionals.

Needless to say, let’s hope our government, through the Department of Labor and Employment, extracts many concessions from Saskatchewan which will be favorable to our health care workers.

Let’s show our doctors, nurses and medical service and technology specialists that we care for them, that we need the dollars they earn to help our economy.

We have to let go of these medical workers because – well, let’s face it – they’re not paid well by our hospitals.