Remembering Lola Rosa Henson

(A story i wrote on Lola Rosa Henson, the comfort woman, after she died in August 18, 1997 and before i was kidnapped on August 23, 1997 on the way to her wake. Published in TODAY newspaper)

pic by ric rocamora

I FIRST saw her during last year’s Christmas party of Lila Filipina, the organization of former Filipina comfort women.  Despite her failing health, one could still sense her courage, the same courage she displayed when she went public with her story: she was one of the thousands of women forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II.  She and other Asian sex slaves were euphemistically called “comfort women” by their captors.  Lola Rosa was the first such woman to tell the world about this inhuman practice of the Japanese during the war.

            Wearing a Filipina dress, she danced and sang with other lolas, unmindful of her deteriorating health.  She has previously suffered a stroke after her 50-year-old daughter Rosalinda died.  On August 18, Lola Rosa Henson succumbed to a heart attack and died without receiving the justice she had long fought for.  Her death came three days after the 52nd anniversary of the end of World War II.

            Lola Rosa felt some hesitation when she heard an appeal by Nelia Sancho, a member the Task Force for Filipina Military Sexual Slavery by Japan, for Filipina comfort women to stand up for their rights and demand justice as well as restitution for Japan’s war crimes against Asian women during the war.  Then, on September 18, 1992, she decided to come out with her story, and to tell everyone what happened to her, with the hope that such an ordeal will never happen again to any woman.

            Born on December 5, 1927, Lola Rosa was barely 15 years old in 1942 when she was raped twice by a Japanese officer in what is now the Fort Bonifacio.  In 1943 she was captured by Japanese soldiers and was taken to a garrison in Magalang, Pampanga, where she became a sex slave for Japanese troops for nine months until she was freed by the Hukbalahap in 1944.

            “There was no rest, they have sex with me every minute.  That’s why we’re very tired.  They would allow you to rest only when all of them had already finished.  Due to my tender age, it was a painful experience for me.  Sometimes in the morning and sometimes in the evening – not only 20 times,” Lola Rosa said.  

            To date, the Filipina comfort women who followed Lola Rosa’s example number 169 in all, just a minute portion of the 80,000 to 200,000 Asian comfort women who suffered systematic rape, torture, imprisonment ad death at the hands of the Japanese Army during World War II.

            Calling her “maestra” or great mentor, the rest of the surviving comfort women vowed to continue what Lola Rosa started.  During the news conference held two days after Lola Rosa’s death, fellow “comfort woman” 70-year-old Pidencia David told reporters that Rosa will always be remembered as the personification of what the comfort women are today:  fighting until death.

            “Sana naman ay ibigay na nila an gaming ipinaglalaban hanggang hindi pa kami nauubos [I hope they grant what we are fighting for before we all die],” David said.

            Nelia Sancho, who is now the national coordinator of Lila Filipina, said that Lola Rosa started a collective movement among the Filipino “comfort women” and highlighted the violence suffered by women at the hands of soldiers during war.  Meanwhile, Ken Arimitsu of the Citizen’s Fudn for Redress of World War II Victims in Asia and the Pacific, based in Japan, expressed in a letter that Lola Rosa’s actions were important for the human-rights movement in the world.
            “By her courageous coming-out and her testimonies, we learned the real history in Asia,” Arimitsu said.

            It has been 52 years since the war ended on August 15, 1945, and yet the Japanese government refuses to recognize its official accountability to the victims of sex slavery, “More than marking the end of World War II, we demand an end to all wars and forms of armed conflict that have brought immeasurable violence and suffering to the lives of millions of women victims,” Sancho said.  “And a crucial step toward peace is making governments accountable for war and the human-rights violations committed against women in the name of war and the state.”

  Lila Filipina has been consistent in its position of opposing the Asian Women Fund (AWF) put up in July 1995.  This fund seeks to raise Y1 billion from individual and corporate donations from the Japanese in the course of one year, the sum of which is to be turned over to comfort women claimants.  The Lila has opposed this fund since they see it as the Japanese government’s way of weaseling out of its legal responsibility to officially compensate the victims.

            Last year, Lila Filipina was rocked with controversy when Lola Rosa and some lolas accepted assistance from the fund.  Sancho said, however, that they are respecting the decision of the lolas, stressing that the position of the lolas is independent of Lila Filipina as an organization.  In fact, Sancho pointed out that some of those favoring the fund and those who accepted it to finance their medication and other needs are still actively participating in the activities of Lila.

            To mark the 52nd anniversary of the end of World War II, surviving comfort women staged a ”women in black” protest action in front of the Japanese embassy.  Sancho pointed out that all throughout history, women all around the world had been protesting the injustices brought by the war.  She cited the demonstrations in black clothes by feminist groups in Palestine, Israel, Bosnia, Yugoslavia and other warton countries.  The biggest “women in black” mass action was held during the fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995.

            The story of comfort women” will soon be written on the seven junior high-school history textbooks in Japan, by recommendation of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights.  Supporters of the comfort women worldwide stress that informing the youth about sexual slavery during war will help in the recovery of the victims and prevent its recurrence.  In the Philippines, Lola Rosa’s autobiography has been published in a book titled Slave of Destiny.  It is now being used in some classes in Philippine universities.

            Lola Rosa was the first among the lolas to testify before the Tokyo District Court during the fourth hearing of the case.  Two lolas from Bicol – Lola Fe Hedia (who died December 1996) and Lola Felicitas Jampolina – also appeared in November last year to give their full testimonies in court.

            Along with Lola Rosario Nopueto, 70, and Lola Julia Porras, 68, 70-year-old Lola Cristela Alcober said that their testimony in June made in the 16th hearing of the suit gave her more hope in continuing with their campaign as the court is expected to render its decision early next year.  The 18th and last hearing will be held on September 19 wherein three lolas will again testify,

            International support for the comfort women’s cause has been lukewarm.  So far, only the South Korean government has officially lent its support to the campaign in pressing the Japanese government for official apologies and state compensation for women survivors as well as its comprehensive assistance program including providing the women with housing, medical and financial support.