JOHN LEE CANDELARIA

I’m excited to share that my paper, co-authored with my long-time friend and collaborator (and fellow PODKAS-ter) Joselito Ebro Jr. (whom we call Bro), has been published in Memory Studies. Titled “The Filipino Comfort Women on YouTube: Emotions, Advocacy, and War Memories in a Transnational Digital Space” (in hindsight, it’s quite a mouthful), it is one of my most significant works and collaborations (by the way, if you don’t have access, you can request to read the preprint version here) as the memory of the Second World War in the Philippines has been the focus of my studies since my undergraduate years, nearly two decades ago.

I’m blogging about this paper because I believe each paper has a story to tell beyond what makes it to the published pages. The origins of this article are equally interesting. A year ago, my friend and fellow scholar, Rosa Cordillera Castillo, emailed me to ask if I was interested in participating in an online workshop on digital postmemory. She had been invited but couldn’t attend, so she remembered my relevant work and recommended me. The workshop, titled “Postmemory Work and the Digital in Southeast Asia,” was held at the University of Copenhagen by Birgit Brauchler on June 15-16 of last year.

While I truly enjoy writing and research, I have come to realize that collaborating with someone makes the process even more enjoyable and motivating. The only other person I knew who was working on the Second World War was Bro, so I reached out to him, and he was eager to collaborate.

We wrote the draft paper in record time, having been given less than three weeks (we were the last participants to be invited). We spent the first week narrowing down our sample. Bro conducted a narrative analysis of the video content, while I focused on coding the comments. We completed the draft in ten days. Our extensive experience with Second World War research and my work on memory studies greatly facilitated this process.

We presented our paper at the workshop, received excellent feedback, and committed to joining the special issue project. Then I thought, why not submit the paper to Memory Studies? I wanted to see if we could get through the desk review and receive feedback to improve our paper. Although it was unconventional and I was already committed to the special issue, I discussed it with Bro and decided to proceed, thinking we could submit another paper for the special issue if we passed the desk review.

I was astonished when Birgit informed me that she had been asked to review our paper (which she declined due to our acquaintance). I intended to discuss submitting another paper for the special issue with her, but I had no idea the review process would be so swift. I apologized and informed her that we would submit another paper, and she was fine with it. In hindsight, this was an ethical misstep on my part, but it was already done. Our other paper, focusing on the Battle of Manila, is already written and being prepared for submission.

I presented the comfort women paper at the 28th Annual Philippine Studies Forum in Japan in Sendai last September. In December, we received the reviews, which required only minor revisions. We made the necessary changes and were informed by the journal in March this year that the paper was accepted.

I believe our paper presents compelling arguments about the representation of Filipino comfort women on YouTube as being sensationalized, which undermines the seriousness of sexual violence and potentially weakens advocacy efforts. We identified the Philippine government as the main hindrance to the Filipino comfort women redress movement’s ability to truly and meaningfully join the transnational advocacy network. This finding aligns with the UN CEDAW ruling in 2023, which stated that the Philippines violated the rights of Filipino comfort women by failing to provide adequate reparation, social support, and recognition. This ruling serves as a formal condemnation of the government’s handling of the issue.

Our analysis of YouTube comments revealed that videos on Filipino comfort women elicit strong emotional responses from viewers, who often express empathy, share personal or familial postmemory, and call for remembrance and justice. Comments reflect a spectrum of opinions, from calls to move on and forgive to strong critiques of Japan’s perceived lack of sincere apology and reparations. YouTube’s global reach brings together commenters from various nationalities, fostering international solidarity among supporters of the comfort women’s cause. However, it also highlights the divergent views on the adequacy of Japan’s apologies and reparations.

The comment sections of these videos often contain counter-narratives that challenge the mainstream historical accounts of the comfort women issue. These include claims that the comfort women were voluntary prostitutes or that their stories are exaggerated or fabricated. There are even claims that Korean soldiers within the Japanese Imperial Army were predominantly responsible for atrocities against Filipinos, a narrative that historians have debunked. Such counter-narratives contribute to the spread of misinformation and can undermine the efforts of advocacy groups seeking justice for the victims. Sensationalism and misinformation can weaken advocacy efforts by distracting from the core message of seeking justice and recognition for the comfort women. Sensationalized content may attract attention but does not necessarily translate into meaningful support for the victims’ cause.

Bro and I are pleased that this paper has been published, and we have two more co-authored papers awaiting publication. If you’re a fellow academic or scholar interested to work on the Philippines or Southeast Asia and memory politics, heritage, or their interconnections, message me for potential collaborations!

Image credits: A screen capture of the reenactment from the documentary “iJuander” by GMA Public Affairs. https://youtu.be/Nb0hq6Et_Ak