Huling habilin ni Lola, by Richard Jacob Dy

Huling habilin ni Lola – The last request of Lola

Three years ago, I heard a story that really moved me. The story was told by a grandma-activist named Narcisa “Lola (grandma) Isang” Claveria. It was the start of my documentation of Filipina “comfort women”, who are now living in their twilight years.

I took a record of what Lola Isang had told me. I remember she cried as she recalled how her family, in broad daylight, was murdered before her eyes.

She told me that her father—a chief in their barrio (village)—was skinned from his throat down to his genitals, as soldiers asked him for information about their fleeing neighbors. He was accused of having a guerrilla as a son as well. And then she saw her younger siblings crying in daze and confusion, and then mercilessly stabbed by soldiers with a bayonet.

Lola Isang and her sister were then brought to one of the soldiers’ “comfort” stations. She said they were raped almost every night, and that her sister had gone crazy because of it. After their escape, she found out that their house was burned down the same day they were brought into that garrison.

Huling habilin ni Lola, by Richard Jacob Dy

Huling habilin ni Lola, by Richard Jacob Dy

Stories of murder and plunder during the war have been passed on from generation to generation, but the systematic rape during the Japanese occupation was not widely acknowledged or even known to have existed—not until the early 90s, when victims like Lola Isang gained the courage to come out publicly. They then formed support groups and started a legal battle with the Japanese government.

They faced the risk of ostracism, especially from those who have known them before they led public lives as “comfort women”. Still, the grandmas have chosen to rally their cause. They eventually became active in other causes as well. They voiced out their opinions on the controversial joint military exercise between the US and the Philippines, and casualties of foreign military presence, such as the infamous rape case at a former US naval base.

Last July 12, one of the grandmas, Lola Paula Atillo, died in the middle of her sleep. She was 83. She was one of Lola Isang’s friends in Lila Pilipina, a support group and activist organization whose members are now in their 80s.

What is probably more upsetting, though, in Lola Paula’s passing is she not only died without attaining justice, but she died oblivious of what she had fought for in almost two decades.

Huling habilin ni Lola, by Richard Jacob Dy

Huling habilin ni Lola, by Richard Jacob Dy

Huling habilin ni Lola, by Richard Jacob Dy

Huling habilin ni Lola, by Richard Jacob Dy

A few years leading to her death, Lola Paula had suffered from Alzheimer’s disease. Sadly, some of the few remaining lolas share the same illness. They mostly come from poor families that don’t have enough money to provide the best medication for them. And the organizations that help them are underfunded and lack support from the national government.

To this day, two decades after they publicly denounced the crime committed to them, the Japanese government still has not said its formal apology; the lolas were not given just compensation, and their stories have not yet been included in Japanese history.

The lolas have amassed supporters over time, giving their cause a chance to continue even after they pass away. But where is victory in that, when some of the lolas themselves are alive now, demanding justice while they still can, and yet being denied of it?

This photo essay is a tribute to the lolas, who deserve justice.

Photographs & Text: Richard Jacob Dy

Website: www.rjndy.weebly.com