SENATOR Risa Hontiveros has manifested her support for the Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) which calls for cooperation between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Self-Defense Forces of Japan.
Hontiveros, deputy minority leader of the Senate, agreed that the country gained abundantly through defense cooperation and military exercises with other countries. She expressed gratitude that the Philippine government insisted on the primacy of environmental protection and cultural integrity.
With the dark historical background of the Philippines and Japan, Hontiveros advised against forgetting the past and the quest for justice of the victims of World War II.
“Even as we rightly move forward with cooperation and collaboration, may we also find within us a collective desire to reckon with the past, and to seek justice where justice remains elusive. I speak on behalf of the comfort women, the invisible victims of the Second World War, whose voices are fast fading because of the ravages of time,” Hontiveros said.
“I yearn for the day that we also cooperate towards righting those historical wrongs, and healing the wounds of a contentious past. This is also the badge of a true friendship,” she added.
