Isn’t the “kamikaze statue,” or what it stands for, outright insulting to Filipinos (“Kamikaze shrines in Mabalacat draw Japanese tourists,” News, 4/10/15)?
And what doublespeak are we hearing? The statue does not glorify the kamikaze pilots, Mayor Marino Morales said. “It serves as a reminder that the kamikaze phenomenon should never happen again.”
The fact is the city of Mabalacat built a statue “honoring” the kamikaze pilots! Just so Japanese tourists can spend their money in Mabalacat and its neighboring towns? Isn’t that an act of treason to a very high degree? Where is our dignity? How about the dignity of our forefathers who lived under the Japanese occupation? How about the countless men, women and children the Japanese slaughtered?
Until when must we prostitute our national pride? The government officials behind that project should be jailed! In some countries their ilk is executed. This statue is an insult to all Filipinos. It is like the Jews building a statue for the Nazi prison camp officials who gassed their kin to death; it is like Israeli civilians honoring suicide bombers who killed members of their families in public squares. This is very shameless and very insulting to Filipinos and, quite frankly, I am puzzled how anyone can get away with something like this.
—JOSE SANTAMARIA, j_e_santamaria@hotmail.com