I don’t know about you, but I sense that the Christmas spirit has not really kicked in this year with most people. Then again maybe it is just me. How could it? With all the craziness going on around the world. And yet, I still believe that there are redeeming qualities that life, through history, offers for us to reflect on.
One of these qualities is a sense of humanity and compassion which was displayed touchingly in one of the shining moments of Philippine history. Yes, right in our home country the Philippines. It happened around 70 years ago during the time of former President Quirino.
This was something I “discovered” a few pre-pandemic years ago. I am now reminded of this as I scour my memory banks for inspiring stories – true to life- to keep the light of hope alive that — all is not lost.
While in the course of my professional work then, I was in NHK Japan negotiating for content to be aired on television in the Philippines. A very interesting and relevant documentary listed in the NHK catalogue caught my eye. It was an eye opener for me. (NHK, short for Nippon Hoso Kyokai –Japan Broadcasting Corporation – is the sole public media organization of Japan.)
I bring it up now in the light of the inordinate and unconscionable violence and destruction going on in some parts of the globe now. This is not about me being for this or that. And if I have to be on one side, I am for life. Not to be interpreted within the context of the abortion controversy, though. That is another story altogether.
That being said, I get back to the topic of the documentary which I feel is apropos to impart a message that is badly needed these days. This article written by Ms Rocamora and posted July 13, 2023 in the Phillipine News Agency (PNA) the official news agency of the Philippine government, carried the banner headline of
“JAPAN COMMEMORATES QUIRINO PARDON FOR OVER 100 WWII POWS”
I have taken the liberty of quoting the article almost
in toto, courtesy of PNA, as I think that it will serve as a positive reminder that there is still hope in humanity.
“The Philippines continues to make a mark on Japan 70 years after its momentous decision to pardon over 100 Japanese prisoners of war (POW) from World War II – an act of forgiveness that paved the way for the friendly relations Tokyo and Manila enjoy today.
In a ceremony on Thursday, descendants of both former President Elpidio Quirino and Tatsuo Kono, the military painter who tirelessly appealed for clemency, gathered in Muntinlupa City, the same city where the Japanese war criminals served their sentence in the 1950s.
Quirino granted the executive clemency in July 1953 at a time when Filipinos held strong post-war anti-Japan sentiments.
The decision also came as an act of remarkable self-sacrifice and compassion for Quirino, who suffered devastating loss during the war when his wife, Alicia, and three children were killed by Japanese troops while fleeing during the Battle of Manila.
“As Ambassador of Japan to the Philippines, I am deeply grateful to President Quirino for making this decision with an eye to the future of Japan-Philippines relations,” Japan Ambassador to the Philippines Kazuhiko Koshikawa said in his remarks.
“At that time, many Japanese people expressed their profound gratitude for his compassionate gesture which had a decisive and lasting impact on our bilateral ties. Today, Japan and the Philippines stand shoulder-to-shoulder as like-minded friends and strategic partners, having built an extremely amicable and trusting relationship,” he added……
This remarkable development in our friendship would have been impossible without the diligent efforts of President Quirino and our predecessors,” he said.
The commemoration ceremony was held at the Libingan ng mga Bayani in Taguig City, where Ambassador Koshikawa and various Japanese companies and organizations offered a wreath at the tomb of Quirino.
…”Kayako Kono, the daughter of Tatsuo Kono, was also present during the ceremony.
Tatsuo was the man behind the series of letters sent to President Quirino asking him to “forgive the unforgivable”, inspired by the remorse of one of the pardoned Japanese prisoners Rear Admiral Taksue Furuse.
Furuse, during his first meeting with Kono in 1945, acknowledged that “the war was a mistake” and conveyed that his guilt of sending “a young man with a future to death is great”.
He returned to Manila to stand trial in 1946 and was eventually sentenced to death by a Manila military court in March 1946, sparking Kono’s one-man movement.
At that time, Kayako said she was four and used to accompany her father in sending the letter from their hometown in Shimane to Tokyo. In his fourth letter sent in 1949, Tatsuo wrote to Quirino:
“In the two hundred days since my first request, I have been living a life of penitence, and have reflected on the brutality and evil of war, which I must be conscious of as a member of the same nation as Furuse and the other Japanese war criminals…. Only by the miracle of ‘forgiving the unforgivable’ can humankind achieve eternal peace, and I feel more strongly than ever that peace cannot be achieved with ‘an eye for an eye’.”
Kono’s kept petitioning for years until on July 4, 1953, Malacanang announced that Quirino had decided to “grant executive clemency on 114 Japanese prisoners – a move deemed to be based on ‘humanitarian motives and the fostering of early restoration of normal relations between the Philippines and Japan.”
Ms. Rocamora goes on to write that….
“In extending the pardon, Quirino said: “ I should be the last one to pardon them as the Japanese killed my wife and three children and five other members of the family. I am doing this because I do not want my children and my people to inherit hate for people who might yet be our friends for the permanent interest of the country. After all, destiny has made us neighbors…..I am happy to have been able to make this spontaneous decision as the head of a Christian nation. My fervent hope is that the benevolent feeling which has inspired me will strike a responsive chord in others as an act of faith to humanity. Love of fellow creatures will always be the supreme law among men and women and nations and the basis of world peace”
I sincerely hope that the benevolent feeling which inspired former President Quirino to pardon and ‘forgive the unforgivable’ does strike a responsive chord in all of us. I have my fingers crossed. I would include my toes if I could.
Here’s to a heartfelt and peaceful holiday season.
Mabuhay!