Dadivas meets Japanese solons; pushes ‘comfort women’ issueJose del Rosario, son of mayor, is SK headAlay Lakad set Sept. 27Dadivas meets Japanese solons; pushes ‘comfort women’ issueDadivas welcomed and thanked Senators Yoko Tajima and Tomiko Okazaki for filing a bill that would compensate wartime victims of sexual slavery or historically referred to as “comfort women.” The bill’s objective is for the government of Japan to express an apology and to pay monetary compensation to the victims of wartime sexual coercion. (The bill defines “wartime sexual coercion as the act of organized and prolonged sexual coercion of women, who were recruited against their will direct or indirect involvement of the Japanese Imperial Army and Navy before and during the last World War II, as well as a series of military actions including incidents prior to it.”) The Democratic Party, the Japanese Communist Party and the Social Democratic Party led by Senators Yoko Tajima, Tomiko Okazaki, Haruko Yoshikawa, and Yoko Tajima have jointly introduced the bill at the House of Councilors (Japan’s upper house) on March 21, 2001. Senators Okazaki and Tajima, however, said the bill was scrapped without being taken into deliberation once. “It was reintroduced to the extraordinary Diet session months later but again the bill was not taken up and was carried over to the next session,” the Japanese Senators said. The Senators have promised the Filipino people to re-introduce the bill again and again until it passes into law. “Although the issue is not drawing sufficient attention within Japan, the global community is casting an increasingly intense and stern eye on the issue,” Okazaki and Tajima said. Dadivas, principal author of House Resolution No. 71 (as adopted) also appeals to the Philippine government to extend pressure on the Japanese government to resolve the “comfort women” issue once and for all. “He cited the findings of U.N. Special Rapporteur submitted by McDougall and Coomaraswamy regarding the Japanese government’s involvement on the systematic rape and sexual slavery committed by the Japanese Imperial Army as a step closer to gaining the “comfort women’s” quest for legal and moral compensation from the Japanese government. Dadivas quoted the report as saying that the Japanese government organized a system of sexual slavery throughout the territories it occupied beginning in 1932. “During that time, women were recruited by force, coercion, or deception into sexual slavery for the Japanese military,” he said. “Comfort women” are said to have numbered between 100 and 200 thousands but only few have survived today because some of them were killed in captivity while others were forced to commit suicide because of the trauma they had gone through 80 percent of these sexual slaves came from Korea, a large number from Japanese-occupied China and the rest were taken from among other countries as the Philippines, Burma, and Indonesia. These sexual slaves were as young as eleven years old. Dadivas also noted that the comfort women were recruited under “official labor draft” or voluntary committing body corps for labor. The term denotes the devoting of one’s entire being to the cause of the Emperor. These “comfort women” were also listed in the Japanese military supply as “ammunition” or “amenities” and were housed into tiny cubicles, which was known as “comfort stations.” The Japanese military also instituted the use of “comfort women” for a fixed price. The rank of the soldier determined the length of time allowed for a visit, the price to be paid, and the time limit the soldier was entitled to visit the comfort station. Sergeants were served from 3 to 7 p.m. and the evenings were reserved for lieutenants. Dadivas also said that some testimonies from surviving victims quoted in the report as having sexually served 30 to 50 soldiers every day for eight years. “The UN report noted that the first comfort stations under direct Japanese control were those in Shanghai in 1932,” he said. “One of the commanders of the Shanghai campaign, Lieutenant General Okamura Yasuji, confessed in his memoirs to have been the original proponent of comfort stations for the military. There had been a very high incidence of rape by Japanese troops and, in response, a number of Korean women from a Korean community in Japan were sent to Shanghai by the Governor of Nagasaki Prefecture. The fact that they were sent from Japan implicates only the military but also the Home Ministry, which controlled the governors and the police who were later to play a significant role in collaborating with the army in forcibly recruiting women,” Dadivas quoted the report of Coomaraswamy as saying. Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono admitted on August 04, 1993 the existence of comfort stations instituted directly or indirectly by the Japanese military and expressed his deep remorse. Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama on August 31, 1994, also expressed his deep apology to the wartime “comfort women.” These and many statements of apologies from individual representatives of the Japanese government however, do not speak for the government of Japan as a whole and Japan continues to deny its full responsibility on the atrocities committed by the Japanese military. In the Philippines, close to 500 came out in the open and organized themselves into several organizations, the famous of which is the “Lolas Kampanyera (or the Campaigning Grandmothers). About 40 have passed away in recent years. Some 36 “comfort women” survivors are in Capiz. Many of these women are still suffering from lack of sleep, nightmares, high blood pressures and nervousness. Senator Loren Legarda-Leviste has also filed Senate Resolutions on “comfort women” issue. Jose del Rosario, son of mayor, is SK headClyne B. Deocampo, city DILG head and chairman of the board of election supervisors (BES), said 45 SK Chairmen out of the 47 barangays of the city participated in the said elections. SK chairmen from Talon and Tanza failed to attend the elections. Jose is the youngest son of Roxas City Mayor Antonio del Rosario. Other SK officers elected were Paul Ivan Baticados (Inzo Arnaldo Village), vice president; Mutya Dorado (Tiza), secretary; Andy Artates (Bolo), treasurer; Michelle Aranza (Baybay), auditor; Garry Langurayan (Mongpong), public relations officer; and Rushel Agustin (Lanot), sergeant-at-arms. The election was conducted by the elections committee composed of Jose “Pepe” A. del Rosario, Ryan Aranza (Brgy. II), and Martin Abareles (Libas). Prior to the conduct of the elections proper Deocampo briefed the SK chairmen on the mechanics of the election and other relevant information pursuant to issuances and guidelines issued by the DILG and the Constitution-and-By-Laws of the SK. The board of election supervisors (BES) was composed of Deocampo, chairman; lawyer Ronnie T. Dadivas, SP secretary; and Nelly Abao-Lee, city Comelec supervisor. A panel of observers was also present composed of P/Insp. Villanueva (PNP); Angelo Blancaver (NGO/BOGS), and Supt. Artily D. Inocencio (DepEd). The SK federation election was conducted peacefully, orderly and fairly, Deocampo said. Alay Lakad set Sept. 27The amount to be generated from the walk-for-a-cause will be channelled by the City Social Welfare and Development Office, which also chairs the Alay Lakad Project Committee, to help hundreds of OSYs in the city. The yearly activity will be participated in by various government offices, public and private schools, local officials and employees and non-government as well as civic organizations that will be divided into four or five groups. Each group will have an assembly area and will converge at the public plaza here. Engr. Mansueto Aguirre, Kabalikat Civicom 371 President and Chairman of Alay Lakad 2002, said that a short program will follow after the walk which will include entertainment presentations and awarding of participants. Outstanding contingents in different categories such as biggest contribution by private and public schools, civic organizations and government offices and most disciplined and colorful contingents will be determined by the Awards Committee for proper recognition. The over-all chairman of this year’s walk is Kabalikat Civicom 371 with the Kiwanis group of clubs as vice-chair. City Mayor Antonio del Rosario is the executive committee honorary chairman. The body is composed of sub-committees for Walk chaired by DECS Roxas City Division and vice-chaired by PNP; Publication chaired by the Philippine Information Agency; Finance chaired by Kabalikat Civicom and vice-chaired by Kiwanis clubs; Program chaired by Filamer Christian College and vice-chaired by Colegio dela Purisima Concepcion; Awards chaired by Capiz National High School and vice-chaired by Rotary Club Roxas; Physical Arrangement chaired by City Engineers Office and vice-chaired by Philippine Coast Guard Auxiliary; and Communication chaired by Kabalikat Civicom and vice-chaired by REACT. Dr. Dante Corros City Veterinarian and ALFI President, said that the fund raising project has already helped 332 OSYs since 1991 as beneficiaries of scholarship grants and livelihood projects like bamboo rattan furniture, piggery, tahong culture and fish drying, garments and fruit as well as newspaper vending, blacksmith, haircutting and barbershop, electronics repair and silkscreen printing. Meanwhile, William Basas, Jr., Alay Lakad Coordinator, said that a lot of livelihood project proposals subject for screening and approval have been submitted by qualified OSYs at the CSWDO for budgetary assistance. The theme of Alay Lakad 2002 is “Hakbang Mamamayan Kinabukasan ng Kabataan.”
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