EDITORIAL - War heroes

War veterans surely appreciate the tributes they receive each time the nation commemorates a chapter in the last world war. This year was no different. At the Dambana ng Kagitingan on Mt. Samat last Monday, President Arroyo prodded Congress to pass a P10.5-billion supplemental budget this year for veterans’ regular benefits as well as an increase of P500 a month in their pension. The President’s target: an increase of P500 a year until the pension reaches P5,000 a month.

What can P5,000 buy in these hard times? It may not be enough for decent housing in Metro Manila. It can hardly pay for the medical needs of the elderly. The ranks of veterans are naturally dwindling, putting less strain on budgetary allocations for their care. Yet the remaining veterans have to fight for every meager increase in their benefits. For many of these war heroes, every day is a struggle to survive. If there are Filipinos who can’t find inspiration in the lives of the nation’s war heroes, it’s partly because they have seen the sorry plight of war veterans.

Apart from the passage of a supplemental budget, veterans can enjoy bigger benefits if the government can ferret out "ghost" pensioners. Records show that there are currently 262,000 registered veterans, 75,837 of whom fought during World War II. The rest were members of the Philippine expeditionary forces in the Korean and Vietnam wars or fought communist insurgents and Muslim secessionists.

Up to 20 percent of registered veterans, however, are fake, according to reports reaching the President. In se-veral cases in the past, defense officials were surprised to find people claiming to be veterans of the revolution against Spain still collecting be-nefits. It was found that some of the "veterans" were members of a gang faking claims to collect money. If such fakes can be weeded out, the money they collect can go to the genuine ones.

The problems plaguing veterans have been known for some time. The administration must go beyond rhetoric and give the nation’s war heroes their due. Veterans may not live a life of luxury, but they should at least be able to spend the remainder of their lives with their dignity intact.