ASTILLERO, Cherish Hyacinth

LORENZO, Richiemark
SUMULONG, Maryrose
GED0107 – Readings in Philippine History

COMFORT WOMAN: STORY OF BRAVERY

The reading opened up our minds with regards to what “comfort women” really suffered
during the reign of the Japanese colonialists in our country. It had been known to us how absurd
and cruel those occupational periods are. The story of Maria Rosa Luna Henson was a reflection
of how a young girl conquered every tragedy she has experienced. It showed us how she
survived life despite of how hard it has been to her.

TWO THINGS THAT YOU LIKED/APPRECIATE IN THE STORY AND THE MORAL
LESSONS THAT YOU HAVE LEARNED FROM IT

 First, Maria Rosa Henson’s bravery despite of what she has been through. The entire
story resembles how strong and courageous she was even in her early years.She was
raped for countless times and was helpless in nine harrowing months yet she still
managed to get up and live her life again even with stripped dignity and painful
memories. Her courage, love for her family and faith in God were truly exceptional –
especially the time when she risked her life to inform someone familiar to her about the
plan of the Japanese officers to burn their barrio. She has experienced tragedy after
tragedy but regardless of how cruel her life seemed, she never gave up.She made her
mother and her children her inspirations to continue living.Being able to share her story
in public is another act of bravery for it requires reminiscing the horrific past that she
had. We’ve learned that we must conquer the giants in our lives – we may experience
tough challenges but we should still choose to move forward just like how she did. She
was in deep sorrow while struggling but in the end of her battle she survived.

 The second thing we liked was the manner Rosa perceived her situation. She had a very
painful childhood yet she didn’t let negativityhinder her to continue. Her mindset was
alsoremarkable – thinking that maybe God intends something for her; that there might be
a reason why she experienced those things. Her faith in God was very visible in the story
and was an inspiration to many because not all people were able to see God in the midst
of their situation Through acceptance, she was able to love herself again and overcome
the shame she felt. There was no reason for someone who was a victim of rape to feel
ASTILLERO, Cherish Hyacinth
LORENZO, Richiemark
SUMULONG, Maryrose
GED0107 – Readings in Philippine History
ashamed for something she didn’t want to happen. Acceptance is also a way for us to
forgive and to feel the things around us, Rosa was able to feel and notice the kindness of
Captain Tanaka even after what she has experienced in his hands. Lola Rosa’s statement
“I learned to remember everything, to remember always, so that I will not go mad.” Made
us realize that we don’t have to forget the negative things we have experience rather
accept those as part of us and use it as our inspiration. Being able to accept our situation,
no matter how absurd it was, can give us peace and help us overcome our fears.In
addition, her story strengthens the concept that being a woman is not a disadvantage – it
was the inhumane acts of the man that makes it looks like a weakness but it is not.

TWO THINGS THAT YOU REALIZED FROM THE CHARACTER’S JOURNEY TO

RECOVERY.

 We realized that Japanese Regime was really the worse among our colonizers.
Weweren’t wrong that we believed that they were the ones that who had left us a
haunting and traumatic past,which is now part of our history, especially in the point of
view of the oppressed women that time. The good side of their colonizationcouldn’t
overpower their brutal attacks and gruesome intentions that the main character had felt.
The war made her a fearless soldier, even though she wasn’t armed,as she was kept by
the Japanese soldiers.It made her life miserable to the point that her tears were tired, her
body and soul was numb, and her heart was about to give up. When she had escaped, her
sanity was at stake because of her trauma which made her questioned if her life was still
worth living for.
 As we were reading her story, we felt all her emotions from her childhood days up to the
time where she decided to publicize her story. We felt all the longing, sadness, pain, care
and love. She’d been through a lot and we realized that she upholds the mantra of a true
tamaraw which is “BE BRAVE”. Throughout her tremendous experience under the
Japanese soldiers, she never gave up and the mere image of her loving mother stopped
her thoughts of committing suicide to end the heavy feeling inside her heart. She
continued fighting a battle deep within her because what she had experienced never
stopped haunting her. Even in her married life, she suffered fear, hatred, loss and
ASTILLERO, Cherish Hyacinth
LORENZO, Richiemark
SUMULONG, Maryrose
GED0107 – Readings in Philippine History
painwhich made stronger than ever.With all those piled up emotions she suffered, she
still chose to be brave for her mother, for her family and for herself.

In Addition:
 Her love for her family, especially for her mother, was unconditional. Her mother’s
horrible and traumatic past was never a hindrance for her to care and love. In her
childhood, she even studied hard and focused thoroughly on her education because she
wanted to teach her mother who was deprived of education through her teenage years.
Despite of controversial situation with his father, she still chose to love him
unconditionallybecause what’s more important for her was that he provided all her
necessities, particularly in education. After all that she has been through in the hands of
Japanese soldiers, she thought that she won’t have the capability to love that way again
until she married Domingo and had a wonderful family. “Love will develop in due
course” Julia’s words never left her mind.

TWO THINGS THAT YOU DISLIKED, FIND CONFUSING OR WOULD LIKE TO

MAKE A NEGATIVE COMMENT ABOUT THE STORY.

 “I lay on the bed with my knees up and my feet on the mat, as if I were giving birth.
Whenever the soldiers did not feel satisfied, they vented their anger on me. Every day,
there were incidents of violence and humiliation. When the soldiers raped me, I felt like a
pig. Sometimes they tied up my right leg with a waist band or a belt and hung it on a nail
in the wall as they violated me.

In this part of the story, you could easily picture out the situation of Rosa. She was raped
and abused countless times that turned her numb in pain. She even had a miscarriage
without her knowing that there’s already a life formed inside her womb. Japanese soldiers
were very brutal and merciless when it comes to women. They were selfish bastards who
did nothing but to think of their worthly needs rather than respect. Objectifying women
was very evident in this period. They didn’t have the slighest care if you were already
burning in fire because of fever, as long as their lust was satisfied, they’d still continue to
violate the women. Women were forced to be submissives to these disgusting soldiers
ASTILLERO, Cherish Hyacinth
LORENZO, Richiemark
SUMULONG, Maryrose
GED0107 – Readings in Philippine History
because they were scared for their life. They chose to be contented on how they were
treated, as toys, rather than risking their lives in the hold of the Japanese. We already
accepted the part where the Japanese were really assholes but the most painful part was
when Rosa’s husband raped her just to prove that he was in command. Power could
easily blind a person’s feelings.

 Before Rosa’s suffering, her mother, Julia, also suffered worse in the hands of their
family’s landlord. She was just doing her job for the sake of giving some financial help to
her family and yet this was how fate played her cards. Julia’s pregnancy was really a
shock knowing that the one impregnated her was so much older than her. She felt
disgusted everytime Don Pepe would violate her because she couldn’t do anything about
it. She was reserving her virginity to the man that she’ll choose to marry one day until
that dream slowly faded away. Rosa’s life became worse when her mother knew about
her situation and she just let it go. She even used her just to continue receiving financial
support from Don Pepe. Don Pepe was heartless but her mother was even more evil. She
felt used and violated at the same time. It’s funny that your mother, own flesh and blood,
would trade you for money. Rosa didn’t complain nor debated with her mother on why
she’s doing this because at the back of her mind, she knew that they needed the money
for her father’s hospital bills and other expenses. In her perspective, life was so unfair
because her friends were given a chance to choose who they’ll spend their life with. She
was also deprived of education due to lack of financial support because the money from
Don Pepe was all for their expenses.