A group of Filipinas forced to serve as “comfort women” for the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II have asked the Philippine government to lodge a diplomatic protest with Japan.

The women complained about a “crass” remark made recently by a Japanese mayor.

“This statement is crass, obscene, and is an attempt to justify a criminal act under international law,” Harry Roque, counsel for the group, said. Specifically, rape and all forms of degrading and humiliating treatment committed in the context of an armed conflict have always been illegal under customary law and under the Geneva Convention.”

He stressed that his clients are studying what legal actions to take against the statement, which has been denounced by China and South Korea. He said the Philippines should emulate the two countries. 

Last Monday, Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto was quoted in media reports as saying that “comfort women” served a “necessary role” during the war by providing sexual relief to Japanese soldiers after they fought hard in the battlefield.

Roque, chairman of the Centre for International Law (Centre Law) that represents ‘Malaya Lolas’ (Freed Grandmothers), told journalists that the statement was adding insult to injury, as it was made by an official duly elected by his constituents.

‘Malaya Lolas’ is a group of women who were repeatedly raped by Japanese soldiers during the war in Candaba, a town in the province of Pampanga, central Luzon. They formed part of the more than 200,000 women from the Philippines, Korea, China and other countries in the Far East who were forcibly drafted into brothels catering to Japanese soldiers in areas they occupied.

On Tuesday, China’s Foreign Ministry slammed Hashimoto, saying the forced recruitment of women was a “serious crime of Japanese militarism and an affront to human dignity and a major human rights problem”.