In remembrance of Isabelita Vinuya, leader of the Malaya Lolas of Mapanique

[Content warning for descriptions of violence]

On November 23, 1944, Japanese imperial forces commanded by General Tomoyuki Yamashita raided the village of Mapanique, Pampanga province, Philippines.  They tortured and massacred the men and boys, then forced the women and girls, some as young as 8 years old, into a residence called “bahay na pula” or The Red House. The victims were held captive for several weeks and repeatedly subjected to sexual violence and torture.

The Malaya Lolas (“free grandmothers”) are the survivors of this atrocity.

Isabelita Vinuya (Lola Lita) was 12 years old at the time. For fifty years, she and the other victims kept the ordeal to themselves. They chose to come forward after Maria Rosa Henson became the first to break the silence in 1992 as a survivor of the Japanese military comfort station system in the Philippines during World War II.

Since the 1990s, the Malaya Lolas have been seeking an apology and reparations from Japan. But in a case led by Lola Lita urging the Philippines government to espouse their claims against Japan, the Philippines Supreme Court denied their claims in a controversial decision (Vinuya v. Executive Secretary).  They have since filed a complaint to the UN CEDAW (Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women) that is still pending.

While preparing for an upcoming event, we received word that Lola Lita passed away on November 23, 2021.  This was 77 years from the same date that she was forced into The Red House as a girl.

One day later, Chinese survivor Yu Aizhen passed away at the age of 98 in Hunan province. She had been captured and held in a comfort station at the age of 20 in 1944.

The news that week was a stark reminder that time is running out for justice for “comfort women.”

Currently, there are 13 registered survivors in South Korea, an estimated 40 survivors in the Philippines, fewer than 20 survivors in China, 2 survivors in Taiwan, and an estimated 100 known survivors to date throughout Timor-Leste and Indonesia.

They are the last living witnesses and victims of Japan’s military sexual violence during the Second World War.

Follow the Malaya Lolas at:  facebook.com/MalayaLolasPH

Write to the Malaya Lolas at:  bit.ly/write2malayalolas

Preserve the Bahay na Pula:  change.org/p/heritage-preserve-the-bahay-na-pula

Isabelita Vinuya (1937-2021)

“Lola Lita”

I met Lola Lita in 2018 while working on a photo essay for my undergraduate thesis.

I wanted to photograph all of the surviving Malaya Lolas. Lola Lita toured me through the entire village of Mapanique, fed me, lent me clothes, let me sleep over. I’m sure she did that for many students and visitors. She made us all feel like we were her apo (child).

The lolas always told me, what matters in the last moments of your life are your friends and family.

In September, Lola Lita’s granddaughter messaged me that Lola Lita had become terribly sick. I feared the worst.

On my last visit to Lola Lita, I read her a letter and gave her a photograph of us. By accident, I left my camera on video recording during this visit. It is a memory I will keep forever.

Just this year, three other Malaya Lolas have passed away — Belen Culala, Virginia (Benyang) Bangit, and Januaria (Naring) Garcia.

During a recent interview, a journalist asked the lolas, do you think your children will continue the fight for you?

Throughout the years Lola Lita met so many young students. There are people who want to know their stories from America, Korea, and France. Our efforts show how far we’ve come, and this is not the end.

Today, I put my faith and accountability on the shoulders of those here to keep their story alive.

There are still 24 surviving Malaya Lolas, and we must fight for them.

Thank you Lola Lita, for being a selfless leader. For taking care of so many people in your lifetime. It is a privilege to have met you. Rest in power.

Summer, volunteer with the Malaya Lolas