U.S. to pay 'forgotten' Filipino World War II veterans

[almaty 19]

CNN) -- More than 60 years after reneging on a promise to the hundreds of thousands of Filipinos who fought for the United States during World War II, the U.S. government will soon be sending out checks -- to the few who are still alive.

Veteran Franco Arcebal says, "we are loyal to the United States, except that the United States has forgotten us."

"For a poor man like me, $15,000 is a lot of money," said 91-year-old Celestino Almeda.

Still, he said, "After what we have suffered, what we have contributed for the sake of democracy, it's peanuts. It's a drop in the bucket."

During the war, the Philippines was a U.S. commonwealth. The U.S. military promised full veterans benefits to Filipinos who volunteered to fight. More than 250,000 joined.

Then, in 1946, President Truman signed the Rescission Act, taking that promise away.

Today, only about about 15,000 of those troops are still alive, according to the American Coalition for Filipino Veterans. A provision tucked inside the stimulus bill that President Obama signed calls for releasing $198 million that was appropriated last year for those veterans. Those who have become U.S. citizens get $15,000 each; non-citizens get $9,000.

"I'm very thankful," said Patrick Ganio, 88, the coalition's president. "We Filipinos are a grateful people."

Ganio was among the tens of thousands of Filipinos at the infamous battle of Bataan, a peninsula on Manila Bay opposite the Philippine capital. He was captured and beaten by Japanese troops before ultimately being freed, suffering from malaria and then resuming his service to the U.S. military.

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"The record of the Philippine soldiers for bravery and loyalty is second to none," Truman wrote to the leaders of the House and Senate in 1946. "Their assignment was as bloody and difficult as any in which our American soldiers engaged. Under desperate circumstances they acquitted themselves nobly."

Though Truman said the Rescission Act resulted in "discrimination," he signed it.

"There can be no question but that the Philippine veteran is entitled to benefits bearing a reasonable relation to those received by the America veteran, with whom he fought side by side," he said. "From a practical point of view, however, it must be acknowledged that certain benefits granted by the GI bill of rights cannot be applied in the case of the Philippine veteran."

Some historians say financial concerns were paramount: The cost of funding full veterans benefits to all those Filipinos, particularly in the wake of the costly war, would have been a heavy burden.

The National Alliance for Filipino Veterans Equity offers a different explanation. "In 1946, discrimination against people of color was the rule of law," the group says in a document it submitted to the Obama-Biden transition team in November.

"The second-class treatment of Filipino World War II veterans is another example from this historical period."

For decades, Filipino activists and their supporters have fought for the full benefits. They've petitioned and picketed. Almeda, a widower who now lives in Virginia with his daughter, once chained himself to the fence outside the White House.

"I was fined $50 for civil disobedience and was arrested," he says now, chuckling. He says he was just looking for answers.

Despite encouraging words from U.S. presidents, including George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, the benefits were never restored.

"Only 70,000 Philippine veterans remain alive, and they hope to stay alive long enough to see those benefits reinstated," CNN reported in 1997. "There's a bill, stuck in committee in Congress, that would do just that."

That effort, just like so many before, fell apart.

"We were loyal to the United States. Even up to now, we are loyal to the United States, except that the United States has forgotten us in many ways," said Franco Arcebal, another leader of the American Coalition for Filipino Veterans. "It's only now, because of the insistence of Sen. [Daniel] Inouye in the Senate, he was able to act on this."

Inouye, D-Hawaii, inserted the language in the stimulus bill, calling it "a matter of honor."

The honor comes too late for the many Filipino veterans who passed away waiting for this moment. Families of deceased veterans are not eligible to receive the money.

For those who are alive, the checks could make a real difference.

"Practically all of us are below the poverty line now at this age. We have no way of earning a living," Arcebal said.

But, he emphasized, "it does not correct the injustice and discrimination done to us 60 years ago. ... We were not granted school benefits. We were not granted hospital benefits. ... And in the 60 years, several billion dollars were saved by the U.S. government for not paying 250,000 of us.

"Now we are only 15,000. And the amount that they're giving us is a small amount. But we appreciate that. Because it will finally recognize our services ... as active service in the armed forces of the United States."

[Ban Hammer 13,334]

glad to see it happen

[almaty 19]

same here....good for those lads....!

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Only living Filipino veterans of the Second World War will receive their lump sum benefit from the United States government, a Philippine defense official said Friday.

Ernesto Carolina, Defense undersecretary for veterans affairs, however, said relatives of Filipino veterans who have already passed away should not lose hope because they will work with the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (USDVA) for their benefits.

"Let's not say there's no hope form them. Our strategy is to get the $198 million [lump sum Filvet fund] and then we'll lobby... We'll see if their survivors and dependents are entitled," Carolina told ABS-CBN's "Umagang Kay Ganda."

The defense official said there are an estimated 18,000 US-Filipino veterans in the Revised Reconstructed Gala Roster or "The Missouri List." He said 12,000 Filipino veterans on the list are living in the Philippines and 6,000 are in the US.

The US congress passed last week passed into law the $787 billion stimulus bill, which included a provision granting recognition and lump sum benefits to Filipino veterans.

The provision provides a one-time and tax-free $15,000 for Filipino veterans who have become US citizens and $9,000 for non-US citizens, including those living in the Philippines.

On Thursday, hundreds of Filipino veterans and the dead veterans' relatives trooped to the Philippine Veterans' Affairs Office (PVAO) in Camp Aguinaldo to apply for the lump sum benefit.

Several relatives of the demised veterans said it would be unfair if their fathers and grandfathers to be delisted from the rightful beneficiaries of the lump sum payment.

Carolina said PVAO accepted at least 450 applicants. The application documents will be turned over to the USDVA at the US embassy in Manila for approval.

He said the USDVA will simply confirm with The Missouri List the names of the applicants for the approval. He added that a qualified Filipino-US war veteran can receive the one-time lump sum payment in a month.

The defense official added that the lump sum payment will be given by the USDVA in peso.

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/02/20/09...ump-sum-benefit

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Jinky's grandfather fought in the war - was granted US Citizenship for it... his widow still collects Social Security.

[tmma 467]

It's shameful they have had to wait so long for this travesty to be at least marginally 'put right' but it's tragic that it is too late for many of the brave Filipinos that have died in the interim.

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

They deserve it but it doesn't belong in our Stimulus bill.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

They deserve it but it doesn't belong in our Stimulus bill.

Filipinos are big spenders. It'll all go straight into our sluggish economy.

[Ban Hammer 13,334]

They deserve it but it doesn't belong in our Stimulus bill.

Filipinos are big spenders. It'll all go straight into our sluggish economy.

why are you stereotyping filipinos?

[Jasman0717 9]

Maybe they waited until most were dead

[I'm Gone 60]

They deserve it but it doesn't belong in our Stimulus bill.

50% of the stuff in that bill didn't belong in it for what it was sold as.

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

They deserve it but it doesn't belong in our Stimulus bill.

50% of the stuff in that bill didn't belong in it for what it was sold as.

But Obama is the Messiah and all is forgiven.

[Ban Hammer 13,334]

They deserve it but it doesn't belong in our Stimulus bill.

50% of the stuff in that bill didn't belong in it for what it was sold as.

But Obama is the Messiah and all is forgiven.

[NickD 202]

Make the Japs pay for it, it was them that invaded the Philippines, not us. And over 100,000 of our troops were captured with most of them dying in that infamous death march.

The Philippines after the war could have became a US state, but the people voted in their own dictator, so screw them, they got what they wanted. One of my uncles was killed in that God forsaken place and can only ask, what for?

[Nagishkaw 510]

They deserve it but it doesn't belong in our Stimulus bill.

50% of the stuff in that bill didn't belong in it for what it was sold as.

But Obama is the Messiah and all is forgiven.