by ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
Narcisa “Lola Isa” Claveria (left) and Lola Pilar Frias PHOTO/Anne Marxze D. Umil
MANILA – Narcisa Claveria or Lola Isa, 80, vividly recalls her horrible experience with the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II. Lola Isa is one of the 174 comfort women who bravely went public to demand justice from the Japanese government.
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Then the cruelty began. The Japanese started to peel off the skin of Lola Isa’s father while her mother was being raped by Japanese soldiers. Her two other youngest siblings aged four and five were thrown in the air and were skewered with a bayonet. While trying to help his father, Lola Isa was forcibly pulled by the arm by a Japanese soldier. This dislocated the joints of her left elbow.
Then the Japanese took her and her older sister Metria to the garrison where girls were confined and being raped by Japanese soldiers several times every night. “I was separated from my sister because she was directly put inside the garrison and I was not. I was put in some place also near the garrison together with some Japanese soldiers and some Filipinos. I was raped before they transferred me to the garrison.” In the garrison, her sister Metria was beaten up and raped by the Japanese.
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