A LETTER of apology to several women used as sex slaves by occupying Japanese forces during the second World War should appease many Filipinos, an aide to President Fidel Ramos said yesterday.
"We welcome this statement of the Japanese government with respect to the comfort women and some of the unfortunate events that happened during the second World War," presidential executive secretary Ruben Torres told reporters.
"I think many of our people who were aggrieved or who were damaged by this war would be appeased by the statement.".
Four Filipinas yesterday accepted an offer of "atonement money", accompanied by a letter of "sincere apologies" from Mr Hashimoto. This is the first time Tokyo has specifically apologised for one of Japan's gravest wartime crimes.
The financial offer, amounting to 518,500 for each woman, comes from the Asian Women's Fund, a privately funded group initiated by the Japanese government.
Mr Hashimoto expressed sincere apologies and remorse" to the women, but fell short of offering them compensation for their wartime ordeals.
But some former Filipina sex slaves said yesterday they felt Japan was abusing them all over again with a cash offer from a private fund that falls far short of their demand for official compensation.
"They treated us like pigs then . . . That is how I feel now," former "comfort woman" Prescila Bartonico told a Manila news conference.
Many Filipina women forced to work in imperial army brothels during the second World War have spoken of acts of brutality, such as frequent beatings for the most trivial offence.
Since speaking publicly of their ordeal the women, many living in poverty, have also faced ostracism.
Mr Hashimoto became the first prime minister from the long ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) to express "remorse" for foreign victims of Japan's war time actions.
The first premier to offer a clear apology was Mr Morihiro Hosokawa, in a speech in 1993 during the annual August 15th ceremony commemorating Japan's surrender at the end of the second World War.
Emperor Akihito, attending the same ceremony as Mr Hashimoto at Tokyo's Martial Arts Hall, delivered a speech offering condolences to the war dead.
Despite the apologetic tone of Mr Hashimoto's speeches and letters, five cabinet ministers - all members of the LDP - went ahead yesterday with visits to a Tokyo shrine associated with the war.
"I signed my name as Home Affairs Minister Hiroyuki Kurata," Mr Kurata said as he walked out of Yasukuni Shrine, the main Shinto shrine dedicated to Japan's 2.6 million war dead since the 19th century.
Mr Hashimoto himself visited Yasukuni on July 29th, triggering bitter criticism from China and other Asian countries.
Among the spirits to which Yasukuni is dedicated are those of Class A war criminals including the wartime prime minister, General Hideki Tojo.