By Charissa Luci-Atienza Calls to grant a P3,000-monthly pension and health benefits for the country’s so-called “Comfort Women,” or victims of sexual abuse from Japanese soldiers during World War 2, have snowballed in the House of Representatives. Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund "LRay" Villafuerte
(lrayvillafuerte.com / MANILA BULLETIN) Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte added to the list of lawmakers who sought pension and health benefits for them. “Recognition for their plight has been a long time coming, and deserved for all they have been through,” he said in filing House Bill 9046. He said under the bill, the National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women (NCRFW) will be designated to determine the authenticity of the identities of comfort women and assist them in the application for the compensation and benefits. “The bill hopes to ease their life financially and for the State to provide for them a better situation that what they once went through,” Villafuerte said. House Bill 9046 or the proposed Comfort Women Compensation and Benefit Act tasks the NCRFW to determine the authenticity of the claims and identities of comfort women with the assistance of various accredited cause-oriented women’s groups. Applications for the compensation and benefits must be filed within two years from the effectivity of the proposed Act. Under House Bill 9046, the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (Philhealth) is mandated to provide free full medical insurance to comfort women as may be determined by the NCRFW. The bill also tasks the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO) to provide P3,000-monthly pension for the comfort women. HB 9046 seeks a P10-million initial fund for the processing of applications and payment of pensions and insurance of Comfort Women identified by the NCRFW. Thereafter, the cost of the pensions and insurance shall be included in the budget of the PVAO and Philhealth under the General Appropriation Act (GAA). The measure also compels the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to formulate a program for the proper counseling and guidance of comfort women taking into consideration not only their ordeal in the hands of the Japanese Occupational Army, but more so the pain and suffering of retelling them in public. Taguig Rep. Pia Cayetano and Manila Rep. John Marvin "Yul Servo” Nieto earlier filed similar bills granting monthly P3,000 pension and free full medical insurance for the comfort women. "The so-called Filipino Comfort Women suffered tremendously during their ordeal in the hands of the Japanese Imperial Army. They suffered more when they courageously came out in the open to tell the whole world about the dastardly acts committed against them," she said. "However, the government chose to remain silent about their plight and simply waited for the sought-after recognition and compensation from the Japanese government, a foreign state over which we have neither influence or control," she said. For his part, Nieto said the measure "seeks to recognize comfort women, women who have suffered enough in their lifetime, and alleviate their current condition through financial and health insurance from the government.”