Philippine Senator Files Resolutions in Support of Comfort WomenPhilippine Senate majority leader Loren Legarda Leviste Monday filed two resolutions which are directed further study and investigate the case of former World War II Filipino comfort women, a press release of Legarda's office said.One of the preambles of the resolutions said that "the Philippine government has a moral duty to work for the restoration of the dignity and honor of former Filipino comfort women especially while they are still living, as a concrete manifestation of our recognition and commitment to the principles of human rights, gender, equality and peace." Formal apology and compensation from the Japanese government are the two basic demands of the comfort women who were forced to be sex slaves of Japanese soldiers during World War II. Filipino comfort women have taken legal steps as early as 1993. But they have not received anything from the Japanese government more than the atonement money from its supported private institution, the Asian Women's Fund. Lila Pilipina, a group representing 170 elderly former comfort women in lawsuit against the Japanese government, has rejected the compensation from the Asian Women's Fund, viewing it as atonement money. Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said Friday that she would take up demands for compensation by former Filipino comfort women as part of her agenda during her September 12 to 15 visit to Tokyo, besides seeking economic cooperation and financial aid from Japan, the biggest source of aid and the second largest trading partner and foreign investor to the Philippines. |
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