Palace hands off row over comfort women statue

MALACAÑANG ON Thursday distanced itself from the controversy over a representation of Pacific War-era comfort women now standing on Roxas Boulevard.

The statue has prompted at least one Japanese official’s regrets, as also reported by Japanese media, and prompted the Department of Foreign Affairs ( DFA) last month to express its concern to the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) and to the city government of Manila Mayor Joseph E. Estrada.

At Thursday’s press briefing, Presidential Spokesperson Harry L. Roque, Jr. said when sought for comment that the matter “should be addressed to the NHCP. It’s not something that the President will act on himself.”

“You know, the statue is not erected by Malacañang. What are we supposed to do?” Mr. Roque also said.

“We didn’t erect the statue, so it’s not a presidential project, so to speak.”

When pressed further, Mr. Roque said, “The President did not erect that statue. It’s up to the people who erected the statue to do anything they want with it.”

Mr. Roque also said he was unaware about the DFA’s writing Mr. Estrada. “I do not know about that letter, and if there is such a letter, to confirm it, please ask Mayor Estrada,” he said.

For her part, Gabriela Women’s Party Representative Arlene D. Brosas said the commission does not need to explain the statue, adding it is only “right to instill in today’s generation the dark time that we went through under Japanese colonial forces.”

“Loans and financial assistance from Japan ( do) not give them the right to direct or persuade us not to commemorate the horrors Filipino women faced during the Japanese occupation in the country,” Ms. Brosas also said.

Japan is a leading partner of the Philippines in terms of foreign assistance.

Recently, the two countries signed a new maintenance deal on the Metro Rail Transit-3 (MRT-3).