$500 for sexual slavery: PH ‘still fails’ Japan’s war victims

(1st UPDATE) The Bahay na Pula or Red House, which is the historical site of Japan's sexual war crimes, is now also nearly torn down

BULACAN/PAMPANGA, Philippines – While the Philippines was starting a new military agreement with Japan, the now defunct imperial army’s Filipino victims during the World War II were wondering whether there would be any addition to the P30,000 ($514) financial aid they received in the last nine months.

“Para sa akin, hindi man sapat, kusa siyang ibinigay. Pero sa totoo lang, hindi sapat sa amin ang konting pera sa nangyari sa aming mga magulang, lalo na ako, tatay ko nakita kong pinatay nila” Maria Quilantang, 89 years old and president of the group of comfort women called Malaya Lolas, told Rappler from her home in Mapaniqui in Candaba town, Pampanga on Wednesday, July 17.

(It may not be enough, but it was what was given freely. But really, the small amount of money is not enough for what happened to our parents, especially me, I saw them kill my father.)

The Malaya Lolas are among the organizations of Japan’s comfort women, or the Filipino women who were used as sex slaves by the soldiers of Japanese Imperial Army during World War II.

The Philippine government, through the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), last year started giving out P10,000 to the living victims. This move followed a landmark resolution from the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (UN CEDAW) declaring that the failure to set up a sufficient reparation mechanism is a violation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

The principle for this is the Philippine obligation as a signatory to the convention that it will not discriminate against women. The commission ruled that by not providing reparations to the women victims, the State was committing a continuous form of discrimination.

P30,000/USD 500 for horrific crimes

Quilantang said all 18 living members of the Malaya Lolas have received three installments of P10,000 or P30,000 each, with the addition of a one-time P5,000 educational assistance for each of three chosen grandchildren or great grandchildren.

This is the first official government move they can recall to compensate for the crimes committed more than 80 years ago in the so-called siege of Mapaniqui, where Japanese soldiers raided the houses, killed the adult men, and took the women as sex slaves.

“Buong Pilipinas, walang kapares ang nangyari sa amin…Pinatay ang mga lalake, hanggang sa sinunog ang barrio na ito, walang natira kundi halaman..Mga batang lalake lang ang hindi pinatay,” said Quilantang.

(In the entire Philippines, nothing compares to what happened to us. The men were killed, our barrio was razed, nothing was left but plants. Only the young boys were not killed.)

The DSWD aid was only up to 3 installments, according to the group’s lawyer Virgie Suarez. Quilantang’s family was wondering whether there could be a fourth. Rappler asked the DSWD for more details, but it has yet to again respond after acknowledging our query on Tuesday, July 16.

“More than a year after the UN Committee decision, the Philippine government still fails to respond in an appropriate and timely manner to its treaty obligations under CEDAW,” the Center for International Law (CenterLaw), also lawyers for the Malaya Lolas, said in a statement.

The longtime president of Malaya Lolas was Lita Vinuya – also the lead petitioner and the name title of the Supreme Court case that sought to compel the Philippine government to help them get compensation from Japan. They lost that case in a controversial decision made even more anomalous by charges that the ruling was plagiarized. This loss in 2010, and the lost appeal in 2014, drove the Lolas to the UN.

Vinuya died in 2021 at 83 years old – two years before the UN CEDAW resolution. Her son Jimboy said that the families of dead victims have yet to be included in DSWD’s aid.

“Hindi po siguro [sapat] pero kung ‘yun lang po, eh pasalamat ka na rin sa kahit kaunting bagay, at least makakatulong na rin po ‘yun kahit papano,” said Mary Ann Vinuya, Lita’s daughter-in-law, describing how their matriarch often spent money out-of-pocket for the Malaya Lolas activities.

(It may not be enough, but if that’s all there is, then thank you anyway even for a pittance. At least it can still help).

Vinuya has around 80 grand and great grandchildren, so it would be challenging to also choose which three can have the one-time P5,000 educational assistance in today’s economy.

It is both the Philippines and Japan’s position that everything had been settled when the treaty of peace was signed by both countries in San Francisco in 1956. The treaty waived claims of reparations.

The long wait

In 2017 under former president Rodrigo Duterte, Japan pledged funding for “nation-building” which was worth one trillion yen or P476 billion in development assistance. By 2018, the statue of comfort women along Roxas Boulevard that served as a marker for Japan’s war crimes was removed. Japan fulfilled this pledge by 2021.

While this was all happening, the victims kept waiting. Quilantang recalls a promise to dialogue with the president, although she cannot recall now which president.

“Puwede ako, kahit saan puwede ako, ang pakiusap ko lang huwag sa Ingles dahil mababa lang ang pinag-aralan ko. Pero kung idadaan sa Tagalog, lahat ng itatanong niya, masasagot ko,” said Quilantang.

(I can talk to the President, wherever that may be, my only request is to not talk in English because I have low educational attainment. But if we speak in Tagalog, I can answer all of his questions.)

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. created a technical working group (TWG) last year after the UN CEDAW resolution, instructing agencies to determine a mechanism for aid, and where to source it.

Justice Undersecretary Margarita Gutierrez confirmed to Rappler that a proposal is now with the Office of the President for approval.

“I was able to confirm with the handling State Counsel that a draft JMC (Joint Memorandum Circular) has already been submitted to OP for approval,” Gutierrez said but could not yet specify what the draft contained. “I do know that DOJ [Department of Justice] helped craft a JMC providing aid/services to the Malaya Lolas,” the undersecretary added.

“Panay na lang pina-aapprove, bakit hindi ina-approve? (They always tell us, it’s for approval. Why is it not being approved?)” said Quilantang, a reflection of their frustrations on their more than two-decade old organized struggle for recognition and reparation.

According to CenterLaw, “medical support programs from the local government are insufficient given their health complications and inaccessibility of facilities.”

Gabriela, a national alliance of women advocates, also highlighted the urgency of the reparations since the victims are all old, and may die before they receive substantial compensations.

“Ang hirap, dahil sa totoo lang, ang dami nang patay na lola. Halimbawa sa Lila Pilipina, mga walo na lang ang natitra out of the hundred na nandiyan. Tapos sa walo na ‘yun, ilan lang talaga ‘yung makakausap mo pa nang matino, dahil ‘yung iba sa age nila, hindi na talagang coherent kung minsan pag nagkuwento sila,” said Gert Libang, Gabriela National Chairperson on Wednesday.

Site of no remembrance

Part of CenterLaw’s recommendations, as expressed to the Senate, was to create a memorial site out of the Bahay na Pula or the Red House where Japanese soldiers took and raped women. It is located on the Pan Philippine Highway in San Ildefonso, Bulacan, just before reaching Mapaniqui in neighboring Candaba in Pampanga province.

Under Republic Act 10066, a marked structure is protected from modification or demolition. But the Red House is nearly torn down, with only the skeleton of the house intact. Rumors have long been spreading in the circles supporting the Malaya Lolas that it is being actively demolished. Rappler visited last year, but the state of Bahay na Pula was worse when we visited again on Wednesday, with the front part already collapsed.

San Ildefonso Mayor Fernando Galvez told the Malaya Lolas last May 9 that the municipal engineer and local police “proceeded to the site and ordered to stop the alleged demolition work.”

“We will always uphold the protection and preservation of properties with historical and cultural significance as mandated by pertinent laws, while recognizing and respecting the lawful rights of private individuals on their ownership and/or properties,” Galvez told Malaya Lolas through CenterLaw in a letter on May 9.

“The NCCA [National Commission for Culture and the Arts] and NHCP [National Historical Commission of the Philippines] must also act,” said CenterLaw.

The President’s sister Senator Imee Marcos has thrown her support behind the cause of the Malaya Lolas, urging all concerned agencies to “concretize the implementation of the CEDAW judgment, otherwise it remains meaningless.”

Quilantang said if she can talk to President Marcos, she will tell him: “Hihingi ako ng tulong. Maliban sa binibigay ng Japan ay ‘yung solong kanya, ipanghihingi ko ang mga lola.” (I will ask for help. His own help separate from what Japan has given. I will ask on behalf of the lolas.)

And to Japan, she says: “Importanteng humingi sila ng tawad sa ginawa nila, ng kanilang mga magulang kung magulang nila ‘yun. Napakasakit sa amin, kayang kaya kong magsalita, kayang kaya ko dahil ang karanasan [namin] ay hindi biro-birong gawa-gawa lang.”

(It’s important that they apologize for what they’ve done, for what their parents have done. That was painful to us. I can speak about it now because our experience was no light matter. It was not made up.) – with reports from Michelle Abad/Rappler.com