Port of Call ・Manila Dancers parade in front of Peace Boat Bad weather resulted in arrival to Manila being delayed by over twenty hours, causing cancellation of many of the arranged on-land programs. However, Peace Boat staff were able to re-organise and combine several of the programmes so that it was still possible to participate in meaningful exchange with local people, with impressions made all the stronger by the time constraints. Comfort women appealing for justice Under a cloudy sky spitting rain, participants descended from the ship to be welcomed by vibrant, befeathered dancers and deafening drum groups vying for their attention. These formed a contrast with the sombre-faced Lolas (the local term for comfort women, meaning "Grandmother") who carried banners appealing for peace and demanding recognition of their situation. One group visited the offices of DAWN (Development Action for Women Network), an NGO working to support former workers in the Japanese entertainment industry, as well as petition on behalf of children abandoned by their Japanese fathers. A Japanese-Philippine girl sings for participants Participants witnessed excerpts from a musical which is performed by the children on yearly awareness-raising tours to Japan, and responded with performances by Space, the Peace Boat dance team and the Taiko drum group currently onboard. Another group made its way to the five star Manila Hotel where Philippine group Asin, popular during the Marcos regime for their songs with revolutionary messages, gave a concert, causing hotel staff to peer around the corner of the stage to catch a glimpse of this famous band. Lolita, the lead singer, gave a short speech welcoming Peace Boat, the locals and in particular the Lolas, of whom she said "Justice for comfort women is justice for the future." Participants were presented with necklaces of fragrant sampagnita, the national flower of the Philippines, and soon the Spanish-influenced music had everyone dancing around the front of the stage. Asin in concert Peace Boat passengers were also joined by families from Payatas village, where many scrape a living by trawling the dump sites for recyclable garbage. Children and volunteer staff members were there from Lupang Pangako, a parent and child association that runs a drop-in centre providing local children with a basic education, a space to play and one solid meal a day, thus keeping them off the street where crime is widespread. It was the first time for many of the children to leave their village and the ironic contrast between their poverty and the plush surroundings was not lost on the participants. Following the concert the Lolas sang a traditional song, while Japanese participants played with the children and talked to the women about their experiences. Unfortunately time was very short and many expressed frustration at the language barrier and the fact that the atmosphere was not conducive to discussion of the delicate issues and trials the older women had undergone. Lolas give a powerful rendition of a traditional song A third exchange tour visited the Navotas area, a coastal region rich in fishing reserves but highly susceptible to flooding. As Jeepnys conveyed participants from the port to the village, traversing areas of razed housing, volunteers from local NGOs explained how a poverty reduction programme is resulting in the relocation of over 4000 squatter families. Consisting of flood-control measures designed to stimulate the local economy, the scheme is being funded by a loan from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation. Although the fishermen are not opposed to the flood control programme as such, the relocation area is far from the coast and no alternative employment exists. Furthermore, families are granted a plot of land, but risk forfeiting it if they don't construct a dwelling within a month, despite the lack of infrastructure or available building materials. Thus demolition is always accompanied by clashes between the villagers, who form human barricades to protect their homes, and the police, who employ violent measures to remove them and make way for the bulldozers. Locally created NGOs are campaigning on their behalf to have the relocation site moved to within Navotas as well as bring the human rights violations to international attention. Peace Boat participants and children share a moment of fun Upon arrival, villagers welcomed Peace Boat passengers with songs, dance and theatre performed by local children. They expressed their pleasure that people from Japan had come to witness their situation, especially as Japanese tax-payers' money is being used to fund the government-run project, and urged participants to petition the Japanese government on their behalf. Visibly moved by the appeal and shocked by the poverty they saw, many participants were sad they couldn't enter into deeper discussion with villagers and members of the local NGOs. All too soon it was time to return to the ship and wave goodbye to the children clutching origami and Polaroids of themselves with their new-found Japanese friends. As short as our visit to the Philippines was, it left many participants considering the extent to which they, as Japanese, should feel implicated in the plight of the groups visited and wondering how they could continue to aid their work on return to Japan. Peace Boat's 39th Voyage index