February may be a month of love for many or a time for celebrating the upcoming lunar new year this year. But it is also a month of tragedy as we remember that dark chapter in history that was the Battle of Manila which happened 73 years ago.
The Battle of Manila and the greater historical context that was the period of Japanese occupation in the Philippines from 1942 to 1945 has been considered as a part of history that people would rather forget. Part of that tragic tale is the story of the comfort women, young women in Japanese-controlled areas who were forced by the Japanese soldiers to be their sex slaves.
Last December, in memory of them and other women who suffered during the Japanese occupation, a monument was unveiled at the southern end of the Roxas Boulevard Baywalk. Depicting a blindfolded woman expressing worry and fear as to what will happen to her, the 7-foot bronze monument was seen at first as just another monument and World War II memorial, as with the many Memorare monuments in the city in remembrance of the war.
However, the Japanese Embassy in Manila thought otherwise and took offense that such a thing exists.
