'Comfort woman' statue installed on resort island Boracay
By Jung Min-ho
The memorial statue for victims of Japan's wartime sexual slavery on the resort island of Boracay in the Philippines. Nelia Sancho's Facebook
A memorial statue for “comfort women,” the victims of Japan's wartime sexual slavery, has been installed on the Philippines resort island of Boracay.
Human rights activist Nelia Sancho, 64,
set up the bronze statue of two women at her property in Barangay Caticlan.
Sancho, a coordinator of the International Solidarity Council for Redress, said she decided to do so after similar statues in Manila and San Pedro were recently
following protests from the Japanese government.
“We plan to invite schools and universities in Panay to visit the statue,” Sancho was quoted as saying by the Inquirer.
She said she also plans to set up a memorabilia center near the statue to help visitors learn more about the plight of comfort women.
Sancho criticized the Philippines government for “kowtowing” to Tokyo.
“The lolas (grandmothers) are dying and we didn't want the issue to die with them,” Sancho said at a press conference in Manila on Monday, a day before the statue's unveiling.
Women's rights advocates welcomed Sancho's move.
“We need symbolisms like this to remind us that historically there has been institutional violence against women and the victims continue to seek justice,” said Barby Badayos-Jover, director of the University of the Philippines Visayas gender development program.
As many as 200,000 Asian women, including an estimated 1,000 Filipino girls, were forced to work in Japan's military brothels during World War II.