DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS 
S T A T E M E N T 
www.dfa.gov.ph                                                                        2330 Roxas Blvd., Pasay City, Philippines                                                                     Tel. No. 834-4000 
SFA-AGR-PS011-07                                                                                                                                              23 February  2007

Statement of Hon. Franklin M. Ebdalin
Acting Secretary of Foreign Affairs  

On the Comment to Reporters of  Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan
On the Issue of Comfort Women  
5 March 2007

On this important and sensitive issue, the Philippines reiterates the importance of adhering to the language and tone of the Kono Statement of 1993 and of the former Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi’s 2002 letter to the Filipina comfort women-victims, where he said:  

“The issue of comfort women, with an involvement of the Japanese military authorities at that time, was a grave affront to the honor and dignity of large numbers of women. 

 

“As Prime Minister of Japan , I thus 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. 

 

“We must not evade the weight of the past, nor should we evade our responsibilities for the future.”

/jay

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