RP teen loses parents in Japan deportation battle

MANILA, Philippines - The 13-year-old daughter of an undocumented Filipino couple in Japan will be placed under the custody of the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo.

The Japanese recently issued a ruling that only allowed the child, Noriko Calderon to remain in the country, and not her parents, Arlan and Sarah who will be deported back to the Philippines.

Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) spokesperson Ed Malaya told reporters on Monday that the couple were forced to return to the Philippines following Japan's decision. They only have until Monday to leave Japan and Noriko who is a junior high school student in Warabi, Saitama prefecture.

"The DFA respects the decision of the parents and full appreciates the heavy heart with which they arrived at that difficult decision to leave their daughter in Japan," Malaya said in a text message.

Malaya said that the DFA had instructed the Philippine post in Tokyo "to closely monitor and provide assistance to Noriko as needed."

Since 2006, the couple has been asking the Japanese government to let them stay with their daughter, but the Supreme Court turned down the plea last September.

Noriko was born in 1995 in Japan after her parents in the early 1990s entered the country using fake passports.

The Calderon family's plight received attention from various groups including international humanitarian organizations that urged the Japanese government to reconsider its decision. - Mark Joseph Ubalde, GMANews.TV

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Francis M’s last blog entry swells with condolences from fans

MANILA, Philippines - Francis Magalona was bald but smiling in the last three photos in his last Web log (blog) entry.

He was then very optimistic he would win his bout with cancer.

“Good evening people. I am getting prepared for my 4th Chemotherapy cycle, and I will be admitted tonight at The Medical City. I will be doing some tests tomorrow, wish me luck," Magalona wrote in his blog dated Jan. 14.

The “Master Rapper" was wearing his signature “3 stars and a Sun" t-shirt in the pictures.

When Vic Sotto broke the news live on “Eat Bulaga" that Magalona passed away on Friday noon, the singer-songwriter’s website was suddenly flooded with words of condolences from fans.

“We will miss you Francis M.... May you Rest in Peace!" wrote “ysel3", the first blogger who sent her condolences to Magalona’s website.

“We'll pray for you and thanks for being such a wonderful and great example for everyone of us. See you!!! We don't really expect that you will leave us all soon man," Ysel added.

As of 3 p.m. Friday, Magalona’s last blog entry got 700 comments, with at least 30 bloggers posting their condolences every minute.

Aside from the usual text comments, other online users posted pictures of the Master Rapper.

“Wartoys" posted his undated photo with Magalona saying: “Sir salamat dito sa ala-ala na yan. Miss you sir [Thank you for this memory. Miss you sir]. "

“Cr4y0n1", on the other hand, embedded an MP3 of Magalona’s “Super Proxy," which the singer sang with Pupil frontman and friend Ely Buendia.

“God bless sir Kiko... [As the song] super proxy [says] there’s no substitute for the real," cr4y0n1 wrote.

Meanwhile, “ceefive" of San Pedro, Laguna, was more poetic with her message, “At noon today you've bid goodbye, God is good, He's heard your cry; He knows what's best for everybody, May comfort be with your family." - Mark Joseph Ubalde, GMANews.TV

Clinton: US officials holding talks in Syria

ANKARA, Turkey - Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Saturday that talks were underway between two U.S. representatives and Syrian officials in Damascus.