Filipino 'comfort women' want plight raised with Japanese emperor

Kyodo News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/abs-cbnnews/a_images/azure/20140625-comfortwomen-japan-rm.jpg"/><figcaption><div class="embed-desc">Koreans join Filipinos demanding apology and compensation from the Japanese government for comfort women during a protest at the Department of Foreign Affairs in Pasay City on Wednesday. Comfort women refers to women forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese army during World War II. Photo: ABS-CBN News</div></figcaption></figure></div>MANILA - A number of Filipino women who were forced to work in Japanese military brothels during World War II challenged Philippine President Benigno Aquino III on Friday to bring up their plight before Japanese Emperor Akihito during his visit to the country next week.READ: <a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/nation/v1/01/15/16/pnoy-open-to-seeking-assistance-from-japan-for-comfort-women">PNoy open to seeking assistance from Japan for &#x27;comfort women&#x27;</a>The aging women, who are part of the Lila Pilipina (League of Filipino Women) organization, which originally grouped together 174 so-called &quot;comfort women,&quot; said in a news forum in the Manila suburb Quezon City that the emperor&#x27;s <a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/nation/12/04/15/japans-emperor-empress-to-visit-philippines-in-january">visit</a> and meeting with Aquino is a good opportunity to remind Japan of its unresolved issues regarding former Filipino comfort women.&quot;My message for our president is that the abuses against us must be addressed,&quot; an emotional Narcisa Claveria, 85, said. &quot;We have yet to receive real justice. We were so young, but a lot was already taken from us. We lost our dignity. We weren&#x27;t able to go to school. We suffered under the Japanese soldiers.&quot;Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko will visit the Philippines on Jan. 26-30 as a highlight of the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the two countries&#x27; diplomatic relations. Aquino will accept the couple at the presidential palace on Jan. 27.Ricardo Jose, a history professor at the University of the Philippines who has carried out an extensive study on Philippine-Japan relations, said in the same forum the comfort women issue &quot;is a case of historical wrong that has not yet been righted.&quot;READ: <a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/nation/v1/12/30/15/japan-urged-issue-apology-compensation-for-ph-comfort-women">Japan urged: Issue apology, compensation for PH &#x27;comfort women&#x27;</a>&quot;As a historian, my perspective is based on verified facts, documents and witnesses. We have a lot of evidence to show this. What makes the comfort women issue particularly striking is that this is not just a case of rape. This is a case of sexual slavery. And where else in the world has this happened on an organized scale?&quot; he said.While several Japanese leaders and officials have expressed apologies for Japan&#x27;s atrocities during the war, including those against women, the Filipino comfort women do not consider these to be an official government stance.The surviving women, who are now in their 80s, also merely regard as &quot;atonement&quot; payments which started in the mid-1990s under the Asian Women&#x27;s Fund. Thus, they continue to ask for what they call &quot;just compensation&quot; from the Japanese government.Their final demand from Japan is for the inclusion in its historical accounts, such as textbooks, of the issue of women forced to work in military brothels to educate the present and future generations.The group has lamented over Japan&#x27;s disregard of its pleas, as well as the lack of support from the Philippine government. Its frustration grew after the South Korean government <a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/global-filipino/world/12/28/15/south-korea-japan-strike-deal-on-comfort-women">successfully struck</a> a deal with Japan in December for the resolution of the South Korean comfort women&#x27;s case.READ: <a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/focus/v1/12/30/15/unlike-korea-ph-not-playing-cards-right-on-comfort-women">&#x27;Unlike Korea, PH not playing cards right on comfort women&#x27;</a>&quot;I want to see in this visit the (Philippine and Japanese) governments deal with each other as equals actually, and look at each other not as one power superior to the other, and in doing this, by looking at past relations and seeing things that were not yet righted, what wrongs are still to be corrected,&quot; Jose said.&quot;So, this means the comfort women will have to be confronted, and there are also other issues related to the war -- still, civilian victims have not been fully compensated, they have not been recognized,&quot; he added.The Lila Pilipina, whose surviving members number only 70, of whom only eight are physically able to move around, will hold a demonstration in the morning of Jan. 27 near the presidential palace to air its grievances. Its members will be joined by supporters, including those from the Gabriela women&#x27;s group.Another group of comfort women, the Malaya Lolas (Free Grandmothers), whose original membership of around 90 had gone down to 33 because of the death of the others over the years, also plans to write the emperor a letter.&quot;Hopefully, by Jan. 27, Aquino will remember that he has a mother, grandmothers, so that he must represent the cause of the Filipino comfort women to Emperor Akihito,&quot; said Rechilda Extremadura, executive director of Lila Pilipina.&quot;Emperor Akihito, although he is not involved in the policies of his country, is a very influential man. He could influence decisions. He could persuade the Japanese people to push the Japanese government to give out justice that is true -- justice with historical truth, not a bogus justice,&quot; she added.<div>==Kyodo</div>

MANILA - A number of Filipino women who were forced to work in Japanese military brothels during World War II challenged Philippine President Benigno Aquino III on Friday to bring up their plight before Japanese Emperor Akihito during his visit to the country next week.

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Filipino 'comfort women' want plight raised with Japanese emperor

Filipino 'comfort women' want plight raised with Japanese emperor

Kyodo News

Published Jan 23, 2016 06:55 PM PHT

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Philippines

Japan

comfort women

emperor akihito

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