Duterte won’t act on comfort woman statue
MANILA: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte will not act on an objection by Japan to a new statue in Manila that commemorates the Filipino “comfort women” who worked in Japanese military brothels during World War II, his spokesman said.
Relations between the two countries remains “very strong”, presidential spokesman Harry Roque told reporters yesterday, playing down concern that the statue could hurt relations with Japan, a major source of aid and investment.
About 1,000 Philippine women were forced into prostitution by Japanese troops during the war – they are known by the Japanese euphemism “comfort women” – a sensitive issue that had prompted some survivors to demand an apology as well as compensation from Tokyo.
Roque said the statue was not an issue for Duterte to get involved in.
“It’s up to the people who erected the statue to do anything they want with it,” he said.
“I don’t think it is really a diplomatic issue, no.”
The National Historical Commission of the Philippines, a government agency, allowed a foundation to erect the bronze statue in a Manila tourist spot last month.
Roque declined to comment on Japanese Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Seiko Noda expressing regret about the statue when she met Duterte on Tuesday.
In comments posted on the min- istry’s website, Noda said: “I spoke frankly to the president and I believe he understood”.
A spokesman from Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was “extremely regrettable” that comfort women statues, including the one in the Philippines, had been erected.