International

Anger after Philippines removes sex slave statue

01/05/2018

Apr.29, 2018

A statue honouring women who were forced to work in Japanese military brothels during the Second World War has been quietly removed from a busy seaside promenade in the Philippine capital, angering women’s groups.

Manila City Hall said in a statement that the bronze statue of a blindfolded Filipina, unveiled alongside Manila Bay in December, will be returned once drainage work is completed. It gave no time frame for the project, alarming activists who suspect that the Japanese government pressured the Philippines to take the monument down.

“What happened is that we kneeled down to the Japanese.That’s why it’s shameful, so shameful,” said Teresita Ang See, co-founding president of a Chinese Filipino group.