Roundup: Philippine activists rally public support to keep "comfort women" statue

MANILA, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- Philippine supporters of Filipino women forced into sexual slavery by Japan during World War II are drumming up public support to keep a statue memorializing the "comfort women" in the Philippines amidst Japan's mounting pressure to take it down.

An alliance of Filipino women GABRIELA and Lila Pilipina (League of Filipino Women) urged the Philippine government to ignore Japan's request to remove the seven-feet bronze sculpture, depicting a blindfold, grieving woman in Maria Clara traditional Filipiniana gown, who stands along Manila's busy Roxas Boulevard since being unveiled in December.

GABRIELA is at the forefront of the Filipino women's struggle for freedom and democracy while Lila Pilipina is an organization of wartime sex slaves.

Both groups have been demanding justice on behalf of the aging "comfort women" in the country - an official apology from the Japanese government, just compensation, and inclusion of the "comfort women" issue in Japan's historical accounts and textbooks.

Knocking down the statue would be a setback in the victims' long struggle for justice, according to GABRIELA secretary general Joms Salvador.

"If the Philippine government gives in to (Japan's demand to remove) the statue, it will be a setback on the struggle for justice," Salvador told a forum on Thursday, saying the sculpture means more than a statue.

"It has significance in our history, in our stand on the issue about 'comfort women' and the wartime atrocities of the Japanese government. If we allow the statue to crumble, we also allow the struggle for justice to crumble," she said.

Salvador called on the public to keep pressure on the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte not to cave in to the Japanese government's demand.

"The issue of the 'comfort women' is a national issue that involves our national identity. How do we stand as a nation in recognizing the dignity of our people if our government does not assert this stance? We, the Filipino people, should continue to fight (for justice) and demand official apology from the Japanese government," Salvador said.

Already, Salvador said GABRIELA has sent a letter to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) telling the DFA to keep the statue. The group also plans to write a letter to Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada to urge the city council to make a resolution supporting the statue.

Estrada lauded the erection of the statue in his city.

"GABRIELA joined historians and civic organizations in delivering a message to the Japanese foreign ministry officials to desist from exerting influence over Duterte's diplomats (to remove) a statue that honors the Filipino 'comfort women' who were captured and raped by imperial occupation forces," Salvador said.

She added, "This public discussion is one important undertaking. If there is no public support and clamor over an issue, the policy makers will just sit on the issue. so we call on the public - individuals, academic institutions, historians, advocates, to also write a letter of concern, support letter, petitions (and the like), to show our government and concerned agencies to stand (its ground) on the issue."

Lawmaker Arlene Brosas of the GABRIELA Women's PartyList said taking down the statue "will be painful for the lolas."

Lola is a tagalog word which means grandmothers. Philippine "comfort women" are called Lolas. "The statue is a symbol of their struggle. That's a direct hit on them if the statue is removed," she said.

"Only a few of the Lolas, who courageously came out to share their experience, remain alive now," Brosas said.

Both Salvador and Brosas lamented that the former "comfort women" are now sickly and "on their twilight age."

Only about 20 of the more than 200 Filipino women, coerced into living in brothels to serve as sex workers for the Japanese imperial army during the war, are still alive. Many of the survivors, in their 80s, can no longer go out to speak because of frail health. Enditem