Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 1) — The issue of Filipino “comfort women” — or those forced into sex slavery during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines — won’t likely be tackled during President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s state visit to Japan next week, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Wednesday.
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“We don’t expect it to be raised, but the position of the Philippines on this issue is that compensation claims by former ‘comfort women’ are considered to be already settled as far as the government is concerned,” DFA Assistant Secretary Neal Imperial told reporters in a briefing.
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Imperial cited the reparations agreement signed by the two countries in 1956.
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Under the deal, Japan provided the Philippines with $550-million worth of goods and services as its reparation and settlement of claims for the damage it caused during World War II.
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However, Imperial stressed that the Philippine government will not prevent private claims should victims pursue such actions.
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“We will not stop, of course, the victims because this is an atrocious violence against women during the war,” the official said.
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On Tuesday, Lila Pilipina — an organization of “comfort women” — held a demonstration in front of the Japanese Embassy in Manila, as it reiterated its long-standing call for the East Asian nation to take steps “toward a fair and long overdue resolution” of the issue and “to finally acknowledge its war crimes.”
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The group’s action came amid the fourth cycle of the United Nations’ (UN) Universal Periodic Review of Human Rights in Japan.
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“We are outraged that Japan has chosen to once again ignore the issue of its wartime military sex slavery of thousands of Asian women in the fourth human rights report it submitted to the UN Human Rights Council,” its statement read.
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In 1993, Tokyo issued an apology recognizing its military’s involvement in the brothel system but refused to admit the government’s role in it.
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Apart from stressing its demand for Japan to come to a dialogue with Filipina victims, Lila Pilipina made an appeal to the Marcos administration.
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“We call on the Philippine government to stand up for its citizens by raising the issue of Filipino ‘comfort women’ during the Universal Periodic Review of Japan, and for the cessation of agreements allowing for military exercises in the country,” it said.
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