Republic of the Philippines
House of Representatives
Quezon City, Metro Manila

FIFTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL-NO: 1458

Introduced by GABRIELA Women's Party List
Representatives LUZVIMINDA C. ILAGAN and EIMERENCIANA A. DE JESUS

EXPLANATORY NOTE

For Filipinos who survived and are old enough to remember World War II, the Japanese
occupation from 1941 to 1945 was a time of devastation and human suffering: women being
raped and bayoneted, children being killed, men being massacred, But how many of the
younger generations remember the tragedies that befell hundreds of thousands of Filipinos,
especially those forced to serve as “comfort women" by the Japanese Imperial Army?

All too often, there is a historical silence about the brutality and sexual slavery endured
by Filipino women under the Japanese occupation. Some survivors of World War | lament that
even policymakers have neglected their obligation to recognize and demand justice for such
victims of Japanese atrocities.

More than half a century has passed since the end of the war and yet the harrowing
experiences and continuing struggle for justice of the Filipino comfort women still remain
officially unacknowledged in our history books and curricula.

Such silence only adds to the historical injustice.

War is indeed marked by violations of human rights, but not often is it recognized that
military sexual slavery must be one of the cruelest violations. During World War I, the Japanese
Imperial Army went on a path of conquest and domination, violating women's human rights by
establishing "comfort women stations" in countries such as Korea, China, and the Philippines,
wherein they forced hundreds of thousands of women to endure systematic rape and military
sexual slavery. This form of violence against women inflicted both physical and psychological
suffering upon these women, so that even after the war, those who survived continued to live
in silence and shame.



In the decades after the war, many men - including Americans - were celebrated as war
heroes and given public support and recognition by the State; in contrast, the Philippine
government failed to acknowledge the comfort women's wartime experiences and their heroic
participation in the war of resistance against the Japanese

Finally, in 1992, with the help of women's groups and advocates such as Lila Pilipina and
GABRIELA, the surviving comfort women brought this historical injustice to the public eye. Lola
Pacita Santillan and Lola Rosa Henson were among the first Filipino women to come forward
and publicly admit having been forced into sexual slavery during the last world war. But sadly,
after almost twenty years, the number of comfort women fighting for justice has been
dwindling. Some like Lola Rosa and Lola Pacita have now passed away and many more comfort
women may die without seeing the dawn of their quest for justice. The Japanese government
continues to refuse to indemnify and formally apologize to these women and their families

Around the world, however, there is a growing recognition that the crimes of sexual
slavery by the Japanese Imperial Army were violations of women's human rights and
international humanitarian law. The 1996 United Nations (UN) Commission on Human Rights
report by Special Rapporteur Ms. Radhika Coomaraswamy, as well as the 1998 UN Sub-
Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities report by Ms, Gay J.
McDougall, gave strong support to the comfort women's demands for a formal apology and
legal compensation from the Japanese government.

Unfortunately, the harrowing accounts of the sacrifices and martyrdom of the comfort
women as sexual slaves under the Japanese Imperial Army have not been mentioned in the
past and present Philippine history books.

This bill seeks to rectify this historical injustice by proposing the inclusion in the history
books of elementary, secondary, and collegiate curricula the lives and heroism of Filipino
comfort women during the Japanese occupation. In doing so, this bill seeks to bring voice and
recognition to the courageous struggles of these women

In view of the foregoing, approval of this bill is highly and earnestly recommended.

- Am)
aa ts IWKGAN EMERENCIANA A, DE JESUS

Gabriela Women’s Partyuist Gabriela Women’s Party List


Republic of the Philippines
House of Representatives
Quezon City, Metro Manila

FIFTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL'NO- 1458

Introduced by GABRIELA Women's Party List
Representatives LUZVIMINDA C. ILAGAN and EMERENCIANA A. DE JESUS

AN ACT
PROVIDING FOR THE INCLUSION IN THE HISTORY BOOKS OF ELEMENTARY,
SECONDARY, AND COLLEGIATE CURRICULA THE LIVES AND HEROISM OF FILIPINO COMFORT
WOMEN DURING THE JAPANESE OCCUPATION AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR

Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines in
Congress assembled:

SECTION 1. The lives and heroism of Filipino comfort women during the Japanese
occupation shall be included in the history books of elementary, secondary, and collegiate
curricula throughout the country.

SECTION 2. The Secretary of Education shall issue the necessary rules and regulations for
the effective implementation of this Act.

SECTION 3. The amount necessary for the implementation of this Act shall be charged to
the appropriations for the Department of Education under the current General Appropriations
Act. Thereafter, such sum as may be necessary for its continuous implementation shall be
included in the annual General Appropriations Act.

SECTION 4. This act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after publication in the Official
Gazette or in any two (2) national newspapers of general circulation

Approved,