News Digest

Filipinos raped by Japanese WWII troops demand compensation

A group of elderly Filipino women raped by Japanese troops during World War II called for compensation from Japan on Wednesday, following Tokyo’s pledge of $8.3 million for South Korean women forced into Japanese military-run brothels during the war. The women’s lawyers said they were also exploring the possibility of filing cases with UN bodies and holding Philippine President Benigno Aquino III liable for allegedly failing to support the case of the women against Japan. Isabelita Vinuya, the 84-year-old president of Malaya Lolas — a group of Filipino women abducted and raped by Japanese troops in a house in their village — urged the Philippine government to support their demand for justice from Japan.

We have appealed more than once or twice to our government to help us, support us before Japan so that we can be given justice for the sufferings we went through during World War II.

Isabelita Vinuya

“Is there a difference in the rape of a South Korean and a Filipino woman?” Harry Roque, the Filipino victims’ lawyer, said. “The answer is there should be none, because rape is a crime against women and is prohibited by international humanitarian law and is recognized as an international crime." Vinuya said she was 13 when the Japanese troops raped women and children in her village of Mapaniqui in Pampanga province, around 60 kilometers (37 miles) north of Manila. The troops also razed homes and killed men in the village. Three other women at Wednesday’s news conference said they were teenagers when they were raped during the siege.