Full equity for Pinoy war veterans within reach

WASHINGTON — Filipino World War II veterans are within reach of getting full equity denied them by the US government over the past 60 years, said Bob Filner, presumptive Democratic chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee.

"Now you don’t have to beg. You deserve it and you’re going to get it. We’re on the verge of victory," the congressman from San Diego told a meeting of veterans leaders at the Philippine embassy in Washington on Wednesday. 

But as veterans cheered, clapped and shouted "salamat, salamat" (thank you, thank you) Filner cautioned that while passage of the equity bill was a "slam dunk" in the House, "we still have the Senate to hurdle and the funding to discuss."

Filner expects to be named chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee by a majority of Democrats who took control of the House and Senate in last month’s elections.

Quoting an old proverb, Delfin Lorenzana, head of the Office of Veterans Affairs at the embassy and a retired army major general, said "let’s not count our chickens before they hatch."

The two-day meeting of veterans leaders from across the United States and the Philippines was hosted by the embassy and the National Federation of Filipino-American Associations (NaFFAA) after new Philippine Ambassador Willie Gaa urged the Filipino-American community last month to rally around the veterans "once and for all" to secure them the benefits they justly deserve from the US government.

Called to serve in the military at a time when the Philippines was still a territory of the United States, Filipino WWII fighters were stripped of their recognition as US veterans for purposes of VA benefits under the 1946 Rescission Act.

About 18,000 WWII veterans live in the Philippines and 6,000 reside in the US.

Among those at the two-day meeting were Alma Kern, NaFFAA’s new leader; Ramon Miranda, vice president of the Veterans Federation of the Philippines; Eric Lachica, executive director of the American Coalition of Filipino Veterans, and the heads of other major veteran’s advocacy groups.

At the end of the meeting delegates signed a "Declaration of Unity to obtain full equity and justice for Filipino World War II veterans in the 110th US Congress."

They pledged to lobby jointly for passage of equity bills in the 110th Congress that seek to overturn the Rescission Act. 

"Restoring the dignity and honor of our veterans has been the single most important issue of the Filipino American community for the past 15 years," Kern said. "Achieving united action is a historic step in our campaign to obtain full equity for our veterans."

The delegates steered clear of mentioning any pension benefits for the veterans, a divisive issue in the past.

They are split between those who favor a maximum pension of $800 a month for all Filipino veterans who have non combat-related disability, the same amount received by their US comrades, and those who support a graduated increase for veterans living in the Philippines.

It is estimated that a maximum pension for all Filipino veterans would cost Uncle Sam about $230 million annually, 10 times more than a starting pension of $100 a month.