rotests poster featuring the removed “comfort women” memorial statue is displayed during a rally in Manila, the Philippines, Aug. 14, 2025. The statue was installed in December 2017 at the same protest site but was dismantled just four months later under sustained pressure from Japan. (Photo: China News Service/Zhang Xinglong)

Philippines: Women & Girls Remember Crimes of Japanese Fascism! (16.8.2025)

The greater percentage of this crime occurred within China – but involved many other ethnic groups as victims – including the Filipinos. Although a statue was raised in Manilla in 2017 to record their suffering – just four-months later – the Japanese government succeeded in cajoling the Philippines Authorities in removing it! Whether Trump ordered this first time around is open to speculation. For Socialists, WWII was a People’s War against the common enemy of fascism. WWII was not the usual bourgeois excess of one competing nationality against another – although for many – this is exactly how it is remembered. Indeed, many of the victorious nations have taken on a vitriolic attitude of blatant nationalism when it comes to remembering WWII – a nationalism that steers very near to the wind of fascism that was purportedly defeated. A People’s War led to a People’s Victory and not one nationalist group over another. The US and its lackeys often sully the remembrance of this war. It was a victory of the International Working Class over the forces of reaction – against capitalism in decline!