The Philippine government flattered Japan for its post-war behaviors while former Filipino wartime comfort women protested to demand justice upon the failure of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to offer a fresh apology for Japan's World War II (WWII) atrocities.[Special coverage]
Former Filipino comfort women, their children and grandchildren staged a protest in front of the Embassy of Japan in the Philippines on Friday, demanding the Japanese government's recognition of and compensation for sexual slavery committed by Japanese aggressor troops in World War II.
Some 40 people from Lila Pilipina, an organization of former Filipino comfort women, participated in the protest. They brought pictures of their deceased members, displayed placards reading "We were raped" or "We want justice", and took turns telling their own stories.
In a statement released Friday to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of WWII, Abe shied away from assuming responsibility for launching the war of aggression upon other countries, saying Japan tried to "overcome its diplomatic and economic deadlock through the use of force."
Instead of offering an unambiguous apology, Abe's statement is rife with rhetorical twists like "maintain our position of apology."
Instead of teaching the younger Japanese generations to draw lessons from the country's war past, Abe said that it was unnecessary for them to keep apologizing in the future, which fully exposes his reluctance to face up to history and delivers a dangerous message to Japan's young people.
He also failed to directly refer to the issue of "comfort women," saying only "we will engrave in our hearts the past, when the dignity and honor of many women were severely injured during wars in the 20th century."
Ironically, in an apparent effort to prevent any irritant between the two countries in response to Abe's statement, the Philippine Foreign Affairs Department released a statement saying: "This 70-year history demonstrates to the world that through their relentless efforts, peoples of the two countries can attain a remarkable achievement in overcoming issues of the past and establishing strong friendship."
Filipino Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte, in an interview over a state-run radio station on Saturday, confined her comment to agreeing on Abe's statement, saying, "we must never again repeat the devastation of war."
She also noted that the Philippines-Japan relationship could be characterized by "trust and unfailing support in so many fields."
Different from the government's support for Abe's statement, Filipino comfort women are still waiting for the peace of mind that will only come with Japan's acknowledgment.
Rechilda Extremadura, executive of Lila Pilipina, said that the group are reiterating the urgency of recognition because the elderly fear they will not live long enough to witness justice being served.
"Only a few of us remain to continue the fight. Many have died without the taste of justice," said Lola Estelita, now 85 years old.
Estelita was only a teenager when she was forced into wartime sexual slavery.
"After three generations, we are still fighting and demanding apology," she said.
Extremadura also wished the Philippine government would take action on the issue instead of sitting there and doing nothing.
"Aquino has met with Prime Minister Abe on several occasions and he could have taken those opportunities to put forward the cause of comfort women," she said.
"But he said nothing, not a single word about comfort women," she added.
