Firm rules needed on public statues of personages or causes
HE controversy over the surreptitious erection of the Comfort Woman statue along Roxas Boulevard raises in bold relief a gaping hole in the republic’s statutes and rule book – the absence of a firm policy on the erection or commissioning of public statues in memory of honored personages or groups, or in salute to a worthy cause.
The fact is, there are no existing guidelines and regulations governing public statues. The issue has been left to the decision of local governments and to the fierce rivalries of political forces, which do their worst once they are ascendant.
It is ironic and sad that the issue has risen to the fore on the back of a misguided effort to honor Filipino women who were forced into sexual servitude by Japanese soldiers during World War II. The Comfort Woman statue metamorphosed in the night without much ado or public discussion. Some interested parties just proceeded to build and set it up.
As a consequence, the national government now has to deal with a protest from the Japanese government, which looks to the reparation agreement forged by our two governments after the war as the vehicle for the resolution of issues.
The Philippine government has formed an inter- agency group to look into the controversial Comfort Woman statue and study how it affects the country’s relations with Japan.
The official stand of the Philippine government for years is that the comfort women issue forms part of the country’s reparation agreement with Japan. The matter has been officially settled. Still, there are groups and individuals, who for reasons of their own, seek another kind of settlement, justice, etc., for the comfort women. That must be subject to negotiation.
The city government of Manila jumped the gun by erecting the controversial statue, without consulting any agency of the government; not the Department of Foreign Affairs, and not the cultural commission of the government.
The issue regarding comfort women remains a very sensitive diplomatic one between Japan and her Asian neighbors, which it invaded during the war.
The city of Osaka in Japan has cut its ties with San Francisco after the latter built a sculpture in memory of comfort women in one of its parks.
The Japanese embassy in Manila has sought an explanation from the city government and the city mayor commissioning the statue.
The Philippines is not alone in being roiled by questions about rules and regulations concerning the erection of public statues.
The United Kingdom, the United States and India have recently had to address controversies concerning public statues. UK had to address the question because of a statue of Ronald Reagan that was unveiled outside the US embassy in London. America was unhinged last year by a mass movement that sought the destruction of statues in the US South that were erected in salute to notable confederate generals during the civil war.
In India, its Supreme Court banned the encroachment of roads, pavements and sideways by the construction of religious structures or installation of statues of public figures.
All this suggests to us that every country or republic should formulate its own rules and regulations concerning the erection or commissioning of public statues. The rules should answer who are entitled to get a public statue, the process of approval, and who are authorized to commission statues for public spaces.
Statues should meet a national standard of worthiness. If the statue honors a personage, it should satisfy a minimum standard concerning the person’s enduring legacy to the nation. If it honors a group of people, then the group must be historically proven to have rendered exceptional service to the nation. Finally, if the statue seeks to honor a cause or an abstract ideal like freedom, or patriotism, then it must satisfy questions about its necessity and timeliness.