A statue in memory of the victims of comfort women installed in Manila, Philippines in December 2017. Since then, the statue was urgently demolished in April 2018. [로이터=연합뉴스]
– On the 14th (local time), the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported that the statue in commemoration of the victims of Japanese military comfort women disappeared in the Philippines. It was installed in Manila, the Philippines, and after it was demolished in 2018, it disappeared while searching for a place to move.
It was one writer who kept the statue. While a local NGO group was looking for a new installation site, it requested storage as well as repairs. However, along with the disappeared statue, the artist has also lost contact. An official from an NGO group said, “The last time I contacted the artist, he said,’The statue was stolen’. It weighs 1 ton, so it will be difficult for the public to steal it.”
The statue, which was installed on a street near Manila Bay, was demolished in April 2018. SCMP said it was in response to Japanese demands a month before the Asian Development Bank (ADB) general meeting held in Manila at the time, SCMP said. ADB is an international aid bank led by Japan, and the Philippines is a major beneficiary of this aid fund.
![Debris remains in the place where the statue of a comfort woman was erected in Manila, Philippines in April 2018. [교도통신=연합뉴스]](https://i0.wp.com/pds.joins.com/news/component/htmlphoto_mmdata/202102/15/33b5c0e7-1ccd-4cf9-8064-08e1d96c93b2.jpg?w=900&ssl=1)
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Debris remains in the place where the statue of a comfort woman was erected in Manila, Philippines in April 2018. [교도통신=연합뉴스]
– Earlier, in January 2018, when a statue of comfort women was erected in Manila, then Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sent Secretary Seiko Noda to Manila to tell President Duterte that he was “concerned”. Then, President Duterte took a backlash and ordered the removal of the statue. “The comfort woman statue is freedom of expression, but it is not necessary for the government to install it while causing hostility to other countries,” he said. “The statue can be built anywhere.” This is the background where the statue went to the artist’s studio.
SCMP said that in the background of such demolition, it is difficult to take a bronze statue of 2 m high and weighing 1 ton without heavy equipment, and there are suspicions that it was brought by the government.
![In December 2017, a statue was erected in memory of the victims of Japanese military comfort women on a road near Manila Bay, Philippines. The photo was at the unveiling ceremony. [사진 신화망]](https://i0.wp.com/pds.joins.com/news/component/htmlphoto_mmdata/202102/15/ce5bd2d1-5294-4ed9-9c4d-5d6e5db044fd.jpg?w=900&ssl=1)
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In December 2017, a statue was erected in memory of the victims of Japanese military comfort women on a road near Manila Bay, Philippines. The photo was at the unveiling ceremony. [사진 신화망]
– The Duterte government is receiving Japanese official development assistance (ODA) funding along with the support of ADB. ADB received 7 billion dollars (about 7.700 billion won) of development funds until last year, which is nearly twice the amount of aid received by the former government during the same period. In addition, in 2019 alone, it received ODA funds amounting to 8.5 billion dollars (about 9.900 trillion won) from Japan.
Reporter Jeong Eun-hye [email protected]
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