PHILIPPINES: 63 years after WWII, ‘comfort women’ await justice

MAKATI CITY, Philippines (The Daily Inquirer), August 17, 2008: ALTHOUGH WORLD WAR II ENDED 63 years ago, justice remains elusive for the Filipino women who were forced to become “comfort women” to Japanese soldiers who invaded the country. “The war may have ended more than half a century ago, but for many of the lolas (grandmothers), wartime is no different from peacetime. They were violated and abused during the war and up to now they are being victimized by Japan’s unremitting stance to deny [them] justice, and the Philippine government’s accession by virtue of its continuing silence on the issue,” said Retchilda Extremadura, executive director of Lila Pilipina. Lila Pilipina is an organization of survivors of Japanese military sexual slavery as well as advocates of justice for the women victims of foreign military sexual violence. Its members and supporters picketed the Japanese Embassy on Friday to commemorate the end of World War II and highlight their “outrage and determination” to continue fighting for justice. Because of the bad weather, most of the women, now elderly, did not join the picket line. They were, however, represented by relatives and other supporters, some from the women’s group Gabriela. Lack of support from government “It is unfortunate that while other countries are supporting the fight of the lolas, our very own government is caught with nary an observance of its responsibility to exercise political will in urging the Japanese government to finally recognize the violations it committed during World War II,” Extremadura said. A growing number of countries like the United States, Canada, the Netherlands and the European Parliament have passed resolutions supporting the demands of Asian comfort women for justice, she said. Even the Japanese Diet and the city councils of Takarazuka and Kiyose in Japan had declared their support for the comfort women. According to Joms Salvador, Gabriela spokesperson, the Philippine government has “misplaced priorities on when and where to flex its political muscle,” adding that there is a draft resolution filed in the House of Representatives calling for the Japanese government to formally apologize and accept responsibility for the comfort women, but this has been shelved since April. “It is utterly vile that instead of pushing Congress to immediately pass Resolution No. 124, the Arroyo administration would rather train its dogs on how to secure benefits for the President by pushing for Charter change,” Salvador said. Japan broke its promise Japan also failed to live up to its pledge to disavow militarist policies after its defeat in WWII, Gabriela said. Through the years, Japan worked to regain its prewar eminence in world politics through alliances with military powers such as the United States, the women’s group said. “We’re concerned that present-day resurgence of a US-Japanese military alliance that promotes foreign intervention, wars of aggression and a permanent military presence in foreign lands is close to spawning another generation of comfort women,” Salvador said. Copyright 2008 Philippine Daily Inquirer