An Apology Long Overdue

It was in December 1941 when the Japanese military forces landed in the Philippines. Several houses of relaxation or “comfort stations” were established all over the country. This is where hundreds of women, who came to be known as “comfort women”, were imprisoned with no rights and forced to engage in sexual activity with Japanese military personnel for a certain period. Their misery, however, did not end there. Ever since Japan has been defeated, these women have lived with the scars of their enslavement, both physically and emotionally, in silence. Many of these women found their way back to their families yet some were abandoned as they were believed to have caused “dishonor” to them. Others were never even able to talk about the terrible things that they went through for the fear of being isolated from society and their loved ones, forcing them to live and die alone. Their lives have never been the same again.

Such is the price that women enslaved by the Japanese military have paid for over six decades. And over that time, the victims have yet to receive justice or any form of compensation. These former “comfort women” are now already old and many of them have already died, yet the Japanese government still consistently refuse to admit national responsibility for their acts of sexual enslavement during the war. What makes it worse is that even our own government fails to support the cause that they have been fighting for for decades. Just very recently, the Emperor and Empress of Japan were here in the Philippines for a five-day visit to mark the 60 th anniversary of the stabilization of the relations between the two countries. President Aquino, however, failed to bring up this topic. Even the Philippine Ambassador to Japan, Manuel Lopez, said in one of his interviews that there are no immediate plans for the Philippine government to work on the demands of the Filipino comfort women toward the Japanese government.

This lack of support by our government to the victims of sexual enslavement by the Japanese military shows how little the government prioritizes them. It’s depressing to think how much value we give to the cause that these victims have been fighting for for decades. It is also very obvious as to why President Aquino seemed to be muted regarding such topic. Clearly, he wishes to strengthen our military relationship with Japan, which may be helpful to us with the ongoing dispute with China. I understand how that can be beneficial to us in case things get out of hand with our dispute with China. However, that should not be enough reason for the President to not even bring up the matter to the Emperor or Empress of Japan or to not show any kind of support to the Filipina victims. The Koreans, on the other hand, was given compensation by the Japanese since they were backed up by their government. Why can’t the Filipina victims get the same kind of support from our own government? This continuing injustice will not cease and any reparation or compensation will not be obtained unless our government take part on this fight for justice. It saddens me to see how this apology that these women deserve, yet they continue to seek, has been long overdue. Those horrifying stories of the victims tell unspeakable acts done by the Japanese to hundreds of women; acts that should not be easily overlooked or disregarded. Many of the victims have died already, some have lost hope of getting any kind of reparations, but some continue to fight. Let us not make them feel that their alone in this battle.