An Apology Long Overdue

It was in December 1941 when the Japanese military forces landed in the Philippines.
Several houses of relaxation or comfort stations were established all over the country.
This is where hundreds of women, who came to be known as comfort women, were
imprisoned with no rights and forced to engage in sexual activity with Japanese military
personnel for a certain period. Their misery, however, did not end there. Ever since
Japan has been defeated, these women have lived with the scars of their enslavement,
both physically and emotionally, in silence. Many of these women found their way back
to their families yet some were abandoned as they were believed to have caused
dishonor to them. Others were never even able to talk about the terrible things that
they went through for the fear of being isolated from society and their loved ones, forcing
them to live and die alone. Their lives have never been the same again.
Such is the price that women enslaved by the Japanese military have paid for over six
decades. And over that time, the victims have yet to receive justice or any form of
compensation. These former comfort women are now already old and many of them
have already died, yet the Japanese government still consistently refuse to admit
national responsibility for their acts of sexual enslavement during the war. What makes it
worse is that even our own government fails to support the cause that they have been
fighting for for decades. Just very recently, the Emperor and Empress of Japan were
here in the Philippines for a five-day visit to mark the 60 th anniversary of the stabilization
of the relations between the two countries. President Aquino, however, failed to bring up
this topic. Even the Philippine Ambassador to Japan, Manuel Lopez, said in one of his
interviews that there are no immediate plans for the Philippine government to work on
the demands of the Filipino comfort women toward the Japanese government.
This lack of support by our government to the victims of sexual enslavement by the
Japanese military shows how little the government prioritizes them. Its depressing to
think how much value we give to the cause that these victims have been fighting for for
decades. It is also very obvious as to why President Aquino seemed to be muted
regarding such topic. Clearly, he wishes to strengthen our military relationship with
Japan, which may be helpful to us with the ongoing dispute with China. I understand
how that can be beneficial to us in case things get out of hand with our dispute with
China. However, that should not be enough reason for the President to not even bring
up the matter to the Emperor or Empress of Japan or to not show any kind of support to
the Filipina victims. The Koreans, on the other hand, was given compensation by the

Japanese since they were backed up by their government. Why cant the Filipina victims
get the same kind of support from our own government? This continuing injustice will
not cease and any reparation or compensation will not be obtained unless our
government take part on this fight for justice. It saddens me to see how this apology that
these women deserve, yet they continue to seek, has been long overdue. Those
horrifying stories of the victims tell unspeakable acts done by the Japanese to hundreds
of women; acts that should not be easily overlooked or disregarded. Many of the victims
have died already, some have lost hope of getting any kind of reparations, but some
continue to fight. Let us not make them feel that their alone in this battle.