‘The Story of Lola ( grandmother) Masing’ becomes a musical in Japan

A Filipino grandmother, who died last year without getting justice as a “comfort woman”— one was forced to become a sex slave of Japanese soldiers in World War II – will be honored in an hour-long musical in Japan

“The Story of Lola Masing” is about the life of Tomasa Salinog, a native of San Jose, Antique, and one of the Filipino women who sued the Japanese government in 1993 for its role in abducting young women for its soldiers’ sexual pleasure during the war.

“Her story will live in the musical,” said Rie Arima, 35, assistant director of Constitution Musical production, which aims to educate the Japanese to learn about their Constitution in a more creative way.

The show will open on April 29 in Osaka, May 5 in Tokyo and June 8 in Yamanashi. It will count on the support of lawyers and a hundred volunteer performers chosen from the public. It will feature eight songs, including “Bayan Ko,” which will be rendered in Filipino and Japanese.

When the “comfort women” lost their case in Japan, the government refused to pay them reparations and apologize for the war atrocities, although a private fund was set up to give money to the victims. Salinog refused to accept P500,000 from the fund because she wanted “justice, not charity.”

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