World War II ended more than seventy years ago and yet there are still issues left lingering by its effects. One of which is the reparation and compensation of Filipino Comfort Women. What are Filipino Comfort Women? These are women who were taken during the Japanese occupation and were held captive to provide sexual services to Japanese soldiers. The first Filipino woman who exposed this practice was Mrs. Rosa Henson who wrote the book "Comfort Woman: A Slave of Destiny" where she wrote her experiences as a comfort woman during the Japanese Occupation. As part of their initial effort to seek reparation from the Japanese Government, Mrs. Henson together with other Filipina Comfort Women actually filed a case against the State of Japan in the Tokyo District Court but unfortunately the case was dismissed in 1998.
As part of the Japanese Government's plans to alleviate the sufferings of Asian Comfort Women had established the Asian Women's Fund (AWF) in 1995 as a private fund for the compensation of Comfort Women across the Asian Region. According to the Japanese Government, the fund had three specific missions: as atonement to former comfort women, as historical documentation and as outlet to address current women issues. The Philippines was one of the many countries who were benefited by the fund. It is to be noted however that the fund was officially dissolved by the Japanese Government last 2007.
Fast forward to 2015, the Japanese Government officially apologized to Korean Comfort Women and provided for $8.7 million as compensation for their sufferings during the period they served as comfort women. On the same vein about a week ago, the Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko conducted a five day state visit in the Philippines however there was no mention if a compensation similar to that given to Korean Comfort Women will be extended to their Filipina counterparts.
What our "lolas" would just want in this lifetime is to be issued an official apology for the trauma they have experienced during the war period. Considering they have lost the case in Japan and that the Asian Women's Fund has been dissolved, they have not legal ties to hold the Japanese Government accountable for their actions during the Japanese occupation. Given that the Japanese Government has already made the first step in Korea, the Philippine Government should now act on this specific issue or else our lolas may not be able to live long enough to see justice served for them.
Sources:
- http://www.awf.or.jp/e1/philippine-00.html
- https://www.icrc.org/applic/ihl/ihl-nat.nsf/0/2B891C148CFB8BA6C1256A1600321CB9
- http://www.awf.or.jp/e3/dissolution.html
- http://www.ibtimes.com/japanese-emperor-visits-philippines-amid-world-war-ii-sex-slave-south-china-sea-2279802
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