Tsinoy leader backs comfort woman statue installation

The leader of a FilipinoChinese non-government organization yesterday urged the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and city government of Manila to retain the comfort woman statue despite protests from the Japanese embassy.

Teresita Ang-See, in a Dec. 21 letter to Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano and Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada, said the statue put up at the corner of Quirino Avenue and Roxas Boulevard by Tulay Foundation on Dec. 8 is just like other monuments in Manila and other parts of the world.

“The comfort woman statue, just like the Memorare Manila shrine in Intramuros, does not mean to insult the Japanese people. It serves to remind humanity that violence against women is unacceptable any time and under any circumstances,” she said.

The Memorare Manila 1945 monument was put up in remembrance of the 100,000 lives lost during the battle to liberate Manila from Japanese troops during World War II.

Ang-See, president of Kaisa Para sa Kaunlaran, Inc., founder of the Movement for the Restoration of Peace and Order and spokesperson of the Citizens Action Against Crime, said the comfort woman statue also serves as a tribute to the comfort women’s courage and resilience.

The seven-foot bronze statue was put up in remembrance of around 1,000 women conscripted into sexual slavery in “comfort stations” run by the Japanese army during WWII.

“Unveiling the statue at this time is most timely, considering the fact that even in the West, women are coming out to protest against the violence visited upon them,” Ang-See said.

She said the National Historical Commission of the Philippines also consulted her about the statue “and I gave my enthusiastic support for the project.”

Ang-See said she saw on the news that the DFA questioned the city government about the statue after the Japanese embassy protested its installation.

She said the Japanese embassy has to make a formal objection.

“That is its job. It is, however, our government’s job is to defend our position and I am sure Japan will think the better of our country for standing its ground. Remember, even Germany apologized for the millions of Jews massacred by the Nazis. The Germans even built the Holocaust Memorial to teach their people a lesson – that never again should they visit such atrocity on any human being,” Ang-See said.

Ang-See said while the government has to deal with the country’s neighbors diplomatically, “this does not mean we have to be subservient to unreasonable demands. The Japanese occupation is a fact. The atrocities, persecutions, massacres, rape and other war crimes are facts. These we cannot and should not deny.”

She said the Philippines has forgiven Japan for the tragedy, “but it does not mean we should just forget.”