As the first case under the Immigration Memorandum Circular No. 2023-004: Guidelines on Philippine Nikkei-jin, Margarita Hiroko Koyama, a Japanese left behind after the World War 2, has departed Philippines and arrived in Japan on September 10.
The Philippine government has waived fines imposed on war-displaced descendants of Japanese migrants, in a move settling a humanitarian issue that rendered the people stateless for decades and left them considered illegal residents in the Southeast Asian nation.
Many people could not get Japanese or Philippine citizenship due to their birth records being lost in WWII and saw Manila impose financial penalties, which had to be paid before any trip to Japan.