A monument will be erected in the Philippines to honor former President Quirino, who pardoned Japanese war criminals after the war and paved the way for the normalization of diplomatic relations between Japan and the Philippines, and a groundbreaking ceremony was held on site.
The idea for constructing the monument was proposed by Japanese volunteers living in the Philippines, and a groundbreaking ceremony was held on the 29th at the site of a former war criminals camp on the outskirts of the capital Manila.
In 1953, eight years after the end of the war, former President Quirino prioritized improving relations with Japan and pardoned over 100 Japanese war criminals who had been sentenced to death for war crimes committed in the Philippines. I sent him home.
At the ceremony, former President Quirino's granddaughter gave a speech, looking back on the history of former presidents pardoning war criminals even though their wives and children were killed by the Japanese army during the war, and saying, ``What is the heart that can bestow the greatest forgiveness? , it is the heart that has been hurt the most. It is a lesson to the world that leaders must have a heart of love in order to forgive."
The Philippines was the site of one of the fiercest battles in the Pacific War, and as many as 1 million civilians were killed. Strong anti-Japanese sentiment remained after the war, but Japan and the Philippines normalized diplomatic relations in 1956 as a result of the amnesty. It has become
The monument to the former president is scheduled to be completed by October this year.