SEN. Risa Hontiveros yesterday said reparations and amends must be made to comfort women and their families abused by Japanese Imperial Army soldiers during World War II.
Hontiveros filed yesterday Senate Resolution No. 539 urging the government to ensure just and meaningful reparations are given to Filipino comfort women and their families.
The resolution comes after the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women recently ruled the Philippines failed to fulfill its treaty obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) when it did not seek redress for comfort women.
“Reparations to victim-survivors are long past due. Many of them have already passed away and the few who remain are in their twilight years, making it all the more critical for the Philippine government to take immediate measures that can tangibly support these women and their families,” Hontiveros said.
“We cannot continue to turn a blind eye to the plight of these women who have suffered and have borne this pain for decades,” she added.
The nonprofit organization Malaya Lolas, composed of 24 Filipino survivors of World War II sex slavery, reported to the UN Committee the failure of the Philippine government to press the Japanese government for reparations.
The 24 complainants also alleged that the failure of the government to take up their cause is tantamount to a breach of its treaty obligations to “adopt appropriate legislative and other measures to prohibit all discrimination against women, and protect women’s rights on an equal basis with men.”
Malacanang has refuted their claim, saying that some reparations have been made and that it also recognized their suffering.
