The Malaya Lolas () are an organization based in

Pampanga Pampanga, officially the Province of Pampanga (; ; ), is a province in Central Luzon in the Philippines. Lying on the northern shore of Manila Bay, Pampanga is bordered by Tarlac to the north, Nueva Ecija to the northeast, Bulacan to the east, ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

composed of people who were formerly "

comfort women Comfort women were women and girls forced into sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese Armed Forces in occupied countries and territories before and during World War II. The term ''comfort women'' is a translation of the Japanese , a euphemism ...

" or victims of sexual slavery by the

Imperial Japanese Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...

during the

Japanese occupation of the Philippines The Japanese occupation of the Philippines (Filipino language, Filipino: ''Pananakop ng mga Hapones sa Pilipinas''; ) occurred between 1942 and 1945, when the Empire of Japan, Japanese Empire occupied the Commonwealth of the Philippines during Wo ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

History

The history of the Malaya Lolas goes back to the

during

. The members of the group are mainly women who were gathered by

Japanese Imperial Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...

soldiers from the town of Mapanique and was interred at the Bahay na Pula to be raped. The Malaya Lolas were established in 1997 and initially had 90 members. Some of the women's husbands, sons, and other male relatives and acquaintances who were victims of war crimes are also members of the group. By 2014, only about 30 members remained due to deaths. As 2024, Senator Risa Hontiveros said only 18 Malaya Lolas remain.

Legal cases

The Malaya Lolas filed a suit demanding reparation from the Japanese government under Japanese courts but this was dismissed since they did not have

legal personality Legal capacity is a quality denoting either the legal aptitude of a person to have rights and liabilities (in this sense also called transaction capacity), or the personhood itself in regard to an entity other than a natural person (in this sen ...

to sue under international law and was told that the group's claims must have sponsorship of the Philippine government. The organization then having more than 70 members filed a case before the Supreme Court in March 2004. They said that the Philippine government violated its legal obligation to deal with cases of

crimes against humanity Crimes against humanity are certain serious crimes committed as part of a large-scale attack against civilians. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity can be committed during both peace and war and against a state's own nationals as well as ...

, when certain government officials did not support them in their complaints against the Japanese government before the

International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; , CIJ), or colloquially the World Court, is the only international court that Adjudication, adjudicates general disputes between nations, and gives advisory opinions on International law, internation ...

and other international courts. They urged the court to hold these officials accountable for

abuse of discretion Discretion has the meaning of acting on one's own authority and judgment. In law, discretion as to legal rulings, such as whether evidence is excluded at a trial, may be exercised by a judge. The ability to make decisions which represent a resp ...

. The group also branded the Philippine government's acceptance of Japan's apologies and its acceptance of monetary payment from the Japanese-financed

Asian Women's Fund The , also abbreviated to in Japanese, was a fund set up by the Japanese government in 1994 to distribute monetary compensation to comfort women in South Korea, the Philippines, Taiwan, the Netherlands, and Indonesia.Asian Women's Fund Online Mus ...

as contrary to international law. The court ruled to dismiss the case in 2010, and a motion for reconsideration was filed by the group's legal team. The court reaffirmed its decision in 2014. It argued that the case is a diplomatic matter and should be handled by the

executive branch The executive branch is the part of government which executes or enforces the law. Function The scope of executive power varies greatly depending on the political context in which it emerges, and it can change over time in a given country. In ...

External links

References

{{reflist Comfort women 1997 establishments in the Philippines Organizations based in Pampanga Japanese war crimes in the Philippines