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Ashley Ortega honors comfort women as she debuts as Sister Manuela in ‘Pulang Araw’
Ashley Ortega paid tribute to the comfort women during World War II as her character Sister Manuela Apolonio made her debut in “Pulang Araw" this week.
In a clip posted by GMA Network on Instagram on Wednesday, Ashley shared that playing the role of Sister Manuela, a nun who was forced to become a comfort woman during the Japanese occupation in the Philippines, was one of her “most challenging roles.”
“It’s one of the most challenging, and I had to put so much effort sa researching ko about my character kasi [it’s] very sensitive,” Ashley said, adding that it is an “honor and a big responsibility to tell the stories of comfort women.”
According to the Sparkle star, she cried when she interviewed some of them, and acknowledged that she had to be “careful” in portraying her character.
“I really have to be careful kung paano ko ipapakita ‘yong character so that people would understand, so that mapakita namin kung ano ‘yong pinagdaanan nila, so people can look up to them as one of the heroes during the World War,” Ashley said.
Ashley also expressed her utmost gratitude to the comfort women and called them her “hero.”
“Sa lahat po ng mga comfort women during 1945, kayo po ay talagang ina-admire ko sa katapangan niyo. Kung hindi dahil sa inyo, hindi po namin ma-eenjoy ‘yong freedom namin ngayon. So, isang malaking pasasalamat sa inyo at talagang para sa akin hero ko po kayo,” she said.
Ashley’s character Sister Manuela was among the comfort women featured in “Pulang Araw.”
In preparation for her role, Ashley and her co-star, Sanya Lopez, visited Filipino comfort women to learn more about their experiences. The actresses turned emotional as the women recounted what happened to them.
“Comfort women” refers to the women who were subjected to sexual slavery by the Japanese imperial army in countries like the Philippines, Korea, and China during World War II.
The few remaining Filipina survivors, who are in their late 80s or 90s, have been fighting for reparations from the Philippine and Japanese governments for decades.
The Kapuso series made a strong debut on Netflix and was a trending topic on X.
"Pulang Araw" airs weeknights on GMA Prime at 8 p.m. after "24 Oras."
— Jade Veronique Yap/CDC, GMA Integrated News
