Senator Risa Hontiveros on Wednesday, July 3, renewed her call for the government to ensure just and meaningful reparations for Filipino comfort women and their families. 

Hontiveros made the call noting that time is running out for the Philippine government to seek redress for and recognize the few remaining “Malaya Lolas.”

The senator earlier met with members of the nonprofit organization Malaya Lolas, which is composed of Filipino survivors of sex slavery.

“Labing-walo na lang ang natitirang Malaya Lolas (The remaining members of Malaya Lolas are now just 18). They cannot wait any longer,” Hontiveros said. 

“President Marcos and the entire administration must make good on their promise to extend aid and assistance to them. Hindi dapat hayaan ng ating gobyerno na pumanaw sila nang hindi nakakamtan ang hustisya para sa kanila (The government shouldn’t allow them to pass away without them achieving justice for them),” she said.

The lawmaker also visited Bahay na Pula, which the Japanese Imperial Army had used to perpetrate sexual violence. The building, she said, has been torn down, leaving only its foundation behind. 

“I hope this can be undone. Sana i-rebuild ito at gawing memorial site para sa lahat ng victim-survivors ng wartime sexual violence (They should rebuild it and turn it into a memorial site for the victim-survivors of wartime sexual violence),” she said.

Moreover, the government should also exhaust all means to recover the missing statue of a Comfort Woman that was erected in Manila but was eventually removed to give way for a supposed drainage project. 

“Masyado nang matagal na pilit tinatago ang malagim na hinarap ng ating mga lola (For too long, we have been trying to hide the horrors our grandmothers faced),” she lamented.

Earlier, Hontiveros, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality, filed Senate Resolution No. 539, which urging the government to ensure just and meaningful reparations are given to Filipino comfort women and their families. 

The measure was in response to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women’s calling out the Philippines for failing to fulfill its treaty obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women by not seeking redress for comfort women.