Japan’s apology for WWII Filipino ‘comfort women’ criticized by victims

Japan has reiterated its apologies for the suffering inflicted on Filipino “comfort women” during World War II. More than 1,000 women were abducted and coerced into sexual slavery by military personnel during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines from 1942 to 1945. Today, only 18 survivors remain alive. Kaneko Mariko, deputy press secretary of Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, emphasized that Japan has long apologized and considers reparations settled through the 1951 San Francisco Peace Treaty.

Lila Pilipina “deplores” apology: However, Lila Pilipina, an organization founded in 1994 by surviving comfort women and their supporters, denounced the recent statement, arguing that Japan’s claim distorts historical facts to gain Filipino support and justify the recent signing of the Reciprocal Access Agreement between Japan and the Philippines. This military pact allows the deployment of their respective forces on each other’s soil, aimed at addressing security concerns in the South China Sea, particularly in response to China’s aggressive actions in the region. Lila Pilipina highlights that post-war reparations primarily favored Japan, leaving individual victims largely uncompensated. They are urging the Philippine Senate to reject the agreement.
The statement: “The Japanese government has never genuinely apologized to Filipino ‘Comfort Women’ and other wartime rape victims. Private letters of apology sent by Japanese state leaders in the 1990s did not carry the weight of a full and official apology. The establishment of an Asian Women’s Fund following these letters likewise do not indicate genuine remorse as the funds were actually donations by private citizens, and were not in any way, reparations for the harm done by the Japanese Imperial government which should carry the full responsibility for these crimes.”

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