Four Filipinos forced into wartime sexual slavery by Imperial Japanese soldiers rallied Thursday in front of the Japanese Embassy in Manila to repeat their demand for justice from the Japanese government as they commemorated International Memorial Day for Comfort Women.
Backed by family members and supporters from a women's rights group, the four women in their 80s from Lila Pilipina (League for Filipino Grandmothers) insisted that the government own up to the crimes perpetrated by its soldiers, apologize and put them in Japan's official historical accounts so the next generation will be aware of them and provide just compensation.
"Our problem is not yet over. We need justice," 84-year-old Estelita Dy, who was physically and sexually abused at the age of 14 in her home province of Negros Occidental in the central Philippines, said at the demonstration.