"On this important and sensitive issue, the Philippines reiterates the
importance of adhering to the language and tone of the Kono Statement of 1993,"
Philippine Foreign Undersecretary Franklin Ebdalin said.
Yohei Kono, then a Japanese government spokesman, issued a statement four years
ago voicing "sincere apologies and remorse" and acknowledging that Japan's
Imperial Army was involved "directly or indirectly" in sexual slavery.
Ebdalin said Japan must also adhere to former Japanese prime minister Junichiro
Koizumi's letter to Filipino comfort women in 2002.
"As prime minister of Japan, I extend anew my most sincere apologies and
remorse to all the women who underwent immeasurable and painful experiences and
suffered incurable physical and psychological wounds as comfort women," Koizumi
said in the letter.
"We must not evade the weight of the past, nor should we evade our
responsibilities for the future," he added.
Filipino comfort women continue to fight for an official apology from Japan as
well as compensation. In December 2003, the Japanese Supreme Court dismissed a
class suit filed by the Filipino women 10 years earlier.
