‘… the citizens of democratic societies who benefit from the blessings of civil liberties and free enterprise must reach out to the subjects of tyrannies, oligarchies and ochlocracies.’
HITLER’S Mein Kampf was a declaration of war by Hitler as an individual against all civilization and free peoples. Later, when Hitler became Germany and Germany became Hitler, that declaration became the declaration of the German people. This war of aggression is for the destruction of democracy the world over and the substitution of slavery of the mass under autocracy. A world divided between autocratic government and democratic government cannot maintain peace.” [Major General John F. O’ryan (New York State Director of Civilian Defense, Commander of the 27th Division in A.E.F.), “Our Population Is Mixed, Their Understanding Of The Logic Of Events Now Transpiring Is Not, On The Whole, Acute,” Delivered at the Forum, Union College, Schenectady, N. Y., November 9, 1941]
By the same token, when Hirohito declared War on the United States of America and the British Empire in December 1941, it was not just this emperor’s whim but the declaration of the Japanese people.
From these, the lesson for us today is the necessity of Civilian Defense: that our citizens must safeguard democracy from autocrats, bureaucrats and fascists. That the citizens of democratic societies who benefit from the blessings of civil liberties and free enterprise must reach out to the subjects of tyrannies, oligarchies and ochlocracies. The added lesson for the attendees of the 2021 People-Participated Public Diplomacy International Seminar on Women, Peace and Security is the necessity of raising the consciousness of the ordinary Japanese person with regard to the universal principles derived from the United Nations’ victory over Hitlerism in World War Two.
“Viewing the vast, sombre scene as dispassionately as possible, it would seem a very hazardous adventure for the Japanese people to plunge, quite needlessly, into a world struggle in which they may well find themselves opposed in the Pacific by States whose populations comprise nearly three-quarters of the human race.” [Speech By Prime Minister Churchill at The Mansion House Regarding Involvement In A US-Japanese War By The British, London, November 10, 1941]
Translating this missive 80 years hence, the Asia-Pacific societies whose girls and young ladies had been enslaved into the Japanese wartime military sexual system must warn the postmodern voters of the Nihon-koku naikaku sÅridaijin as well as the subjects of the incumbent TennÅ that they cannot occupy the high ground in WW2 issues (Hiroshima, Nagasaki) unless and until they commiserate with the crusade for justice of the jugun ianfu. The fans of Naruhito and the partisans of Fumio Kishida must also realize that ASEAN is 655 million people, while Japan pegs at 126 million.
The aforementioned 2021 seminar on women, peace and security should address the cynics and doubters, as done eight decades ago: “The thing they forget is that liberty and freedom and democracy are so very precious that you do not fight to win them once and stop. Liberty and freedom and democracy are prizes awarded only to those peoples who fight to win them and then keep fighting eternally to hold them.” [Sergeant York as quoted by Franklin D. Roosevelt, Armistice Day Address, Arlington Cemetery, November 11, 1941]
The host (CAMP International Peace and Development Center) of the 2021 seminar ought to be assisted with readings of the latest multilateral gatherings: “We welcome the establishment of the BRICS Women Business Alliance (WBA), which aims at increasing the role of women as drivers of economic growth, contributing to the economic empowerment of women in our countries and bringing a distinctive perspective on issues of interest.” [Brasília Declaration of the 11th BRICS Summit]
1. “In our biggest shared test since the Second World War, humanity faces a stark and urgent choice: a breakdown or a breakthrough…now is the time to renew the social contract between Governments and their people and within societies, so as to rebuild trust and embrace a comprehensive vision of human rights. People need to see results reflected in their daily lives. This must include the active and equal participation of women and girls, without whom no meaningful social contract is possible.” [Our Common Agenda — Report of the Secretary-General. NY: United Nations, 2021]
2. “We commended the consistent efforts of the ASEAN Institute for Peace and Reconciliation (ASEAN-IPR) in contributing to peace, security and prosperity in the region through various initiatives…We also noted ASEAN-IPR’s continued support for ASEAN Women for Peace Registry (AWPR) to implement the ASEAN Leaders’ Joint Statement on Promoting Women, Peace and Security.” [Chairman’s Statement of The 38th And 39th Asean Summits, 26 October 2021]
3. “A crisis fueled by a widespread weakening of spiritual values, of the sense of responsibility and of the value of solidarity. The gap between rich and poor has widened.
With the health emergency, new poverties have emerged, adding to the already known social fragilities, mainly due to the lack of work. In particular, in the most vulnerable countries more and more people are losing their jobs, entering a condition of poverty; it is especially women who suffer most from the consequences of the pandemic and social inequalities.” [Message from the Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, His Eminence Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson, on the occasion of World Mental Health Day, 10 October 2021]
The sponsors (Masan, Changwon, Jinhae Civil Assembly for the Japanese Military Sexual Slaves, K-1325) of the 2021 Philippine-Korean seminar on women, peace and security are reminded, too, of the resonance of the Anti-Fascist War: “The indispensable premise of both victory and peace, the necessary prologue to the four freedoms must be daily fidelity to those concepts of justice and that equal protection of the laws which are essential to domestic freedom. Procedures at home must accord with promises abroad.” [Henry M. Wriston (President of Brown University and Chairman of the Citizens Emergency Committee on Non-defense Expenditures), “Political Action Can Cut Off Silk But It Cannot Create Nylon,” Delivered at the Annual Meeting of the Academy of Political Science, Hotel Astor, New York City, November 12, 1941]
For the Filipinos particularly, the polls scheduled for 2022 may turn out to be an inflecting point as the one 80 years ago: “Filipinos reelected Quezon, Osmeña, and legislators to fill seats in the newly created bicameral congress on November 11, 1941. War in Asia broke out on December 8, 1941 following the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, the American naval fortress in Hawaii, and Axis military advances throughout Southeast Asia.”
[https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/the-commonwealth-of-the-philippines/] Voters must ask the wannabe legislators of their stand vis-a-vis United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325.
