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Maria Rosa Hens I
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1996
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Slave of Destiny with illustrations by the author
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~~ Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism T
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Htf Comfort Woman: Slave of Destiny by Maria Rosa Henson
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Published by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism Edited by Sheila S. Coronel Book and Cover Design by Alecks P. Pabico Photographs by Rick Rocamora
Copyright Š 1996 by Maria Rosa Henson and the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism . All rights reserved. No part of this book mav be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means. electronic or mechanical. including photocopying, reco rding or by an information storage or retrieval system. without permission from the publisher. Inquiries should be addressed to the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism , P.O. Box 13038, Ortigas Center, Pasig City, Metro Manila 1605, the Philippines. Telefax: 633-5887.
ISBN 9718686 II 8
Set in Adobe Serif MM
n AV ' l 1943. fif
jClranese soldiers t h· ripping autoD~~r;Tr~me"T'e'cmr::r1cter-eyf'fft:lifiV""""-"'_~___ illegitimate daughter of a big landowner, her wartime ordeal and her decision to go public with a secret she had kept for fifty years.
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WE BEGAN THE day with breakfast, after which we swept and cleaned our rooms. Then we went to the
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~.'~.'~ ,.". ~.i{~~Ji\1W~~.~~ bathroom downstairs to wash the only dress we had
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and to bathe. The bathroom did not even have a door, so the soldiers watched us; We were all naked, and they laughed at us, especially me and the other young girl who did not have any pubic hair.
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AT AROUND ELEVEN, the guard brought us lunch-a cup of rice, some salty black beans and preserved radish. On rare occasions, we had a hard-boiled egg or a piece of fried chicken. Then a little before two in the afternoon, he brought us a basin with hot water and some pieces of cloth .
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soldiers came. My work began, and I '\.' !) I :~f~~~L'~ lay down as one by one the soldiers raped me. ,l j I .' i~)" " Everyday, anywhere from twelve to over twenty If I • soldiers assaulted me. There were times when there .~ were as many as thirty; they came to the garrison in AT TWO, THE
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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 •'1 ;t:;7.i-&~.t~~3:,'lj;"~.~~.fr anger on me. Every day, there were incidents of k.'i. /' "i:;r~': '11:;( violence and humiliation. When the 9f.-"~"i?f! . ,~,/.... " \!~ t··....l~··-:::~di ;1:~ " ~ (. soldiers raped me, I felt like a pig. '~~'i~~'"L.1J] I[Il Sometimes they tied up my right -~ ~."., ~- -,.; ::i.'....(" r leg with a waist band or a belt and 9 68611 hung it on a nail in the wall as they violated me. ISBN 971·8686"-11
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