PNoy urged to raise comfort women issue during Japan visit

Party-list representatives on Monday urged President Benigno Aquino III to raise the issue of the Filipino comfort women during his official visit to Japan on November 14. Gabriela Reps. Emmi de Jesus and Luzviminda Ilagan and Anakpawis Rep. Rafael Mariano filed a resolution urging Aquino to ask the Japanese government to formally acknowledge, apologize and accept responsibility over the sexual slavery of Filipino women during the World War II. “We call on President Aquino to take a firm position in behalf of the Filipino comfort women. We also appeal to the public to join the call for justice and urge the President to bring up the issue," De Jesus said in a press statement. She said the Philippines is the only country in the world that chose not to support the claims of its comfort women. Instead, the government upheld the San Francisco Peace Pact where it allegedly waived all further claims for compensation in exchange for nominal war reparations, the lawmaker said. The issue of the comfort women was first made public when three Korean women came out during the Asian Conference on Traffic in Women in December 1991 to recount how they were made sex slaves of the Japanese Imperial Army in World War II. In September 1992, Rosa Henson came out and disclosed her experiences as a Japanese military sex slave in World War II. The Filipino comfort women have since then raised their collective voice and face and strongly demand that the Japanese government recognize its state responsibility. More than 65 bona fide members of Lila Pilipina, an organization of Filipino comfort women, have died since they started taking up the issue in 1991, without seeing the light of justice. Ilagan said the “lolas" continue to suffer not only because they were sexually abused and tortured by the Japanese Imperial Army, but also because successive administrations continued to ignore their demands for justice. “Will P-Noy have the temerity to show his face to these lolas when he comes back from Japan? The lolas have not forgotten their horrible experiences, and will continue to fight to their last breath," said Ilagan. De Jesus said by continuing to turn a blind eye to the violence committed against the comfort women and by perpetuating its culture of subservience to foreign superpowers, the Aquino government serves as an accomplice to the sexual abuse done by the Japanese Imperial Army to the comfort women everywhere. “The war may have ended more than half a century ago, but they are still being victimized by denial of justice for them," she said. Under House Resolution 576, the lawmakers said the Philippine House of Representatives should follow the step of the US House of Representatives which approved on July 31, 2007 a resolution urging the Japanese government to apologize and accept historical responsibility on the plight of comfort women. “By following the US House…the Philippine government is demonstrating its earnest interest to help the Filipino comfort women achieve the justice they deserve and reclaim their dignity and that of the Filipino people," the party-list representatives said. - KBK, GMANews.TV