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By Jun Medina, Special Correspondent
WASHINGTON, D.C.: Filipino veterans of World War II may finally get
military compensation for their sacrifices and heroism—through a
$198-million allocation as part of the US Senate’s $885-billion
Economic Stimulus Bill.
The compensation package is being proposed by
Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), the chairman of the appropriations
committee. A staunch supporter of the Filipino veterans’ struggle
for recognition by the US government, Inouye is one of three
remaining World War II veterans in the Senate.
“This compensation is about justice and
fairness,” Inouye said. “This is a matter of honor for the
people who served the United States in time of war.”
He observed that in 1941, President Franklin D.
Roosevelt promised the benefits, but Congress reneged on the pledge
in 1946 by passing the Rescission Act, a law that effectively took
away recognition for the Filipinos’ war efforts.
“This episode is blight upon the character of
the United States, and it must be cleansed,” Inouye said in a
statement, calling the revoked promises “a dark chapter” in US
history.
“It should be noted that as you read this,
many of the Filipinos who would qualify are on their deathbeds.
Today, the average age of these men is about 90.”
But critics question the inclusion of the
veterans’ compensation package in the economic recovery bill.
“I find it hard to figure out how sending
money overseas to the Philippines will help stimulate the American
economy,” said Sen. Richard Burr, the ranking Republican member in
the Veterans’ Affairs Committee. Last year, Burr’s objections
blocked the disbursement of the money approved by the House to
compensate the Filipino veterans.
A spokesman for Sen. Thad Cochran of
Mississippi, the top Republican in the appropriations committee,
said he sees the money as legitimate, but that it “just doesn’t
have anything to do with stimulating the US economy.”
But Inouye is undeterred. He said he would try
every means to move the compensation scheme, because “time is
running out on them.”
Compromise measure
A House compromise measure last year set aside
$198 million for the Filipino veterans but was never spent, because
Burr and other Republicans prevented the House and Senate from
agreeing to a formula for authorizing the use the funds.
The Senate recovery bill, which is being debated
on the chamber’s floor, authorizes $198 million for the Filipino
veterans and stipulates how the money can be spent. The House bill,
which passed that chamber on January 28, did not include a similar
provision.
The compensation scheme would authorize one-time
payments of $15,000 to Filipino veterans who are US citizens and
$9,000 for non-citizens who are mostly living in the Philippines.
There are probably fewer than 20,000 people who
might qualify, but the numbers are declining every day as the
Filipino veterans die, said Pat Ganio, president of the American
Coalition for Filipino Veterans.
Ganio, 87, said these veterans are now in their
late 80s and 90s, and are “mostly ailing and poor, especially
those who are in the Philippines.”
If the compensation package gets through the
Senate wringer, the final decision about authorizing its
disbursement will be the subject of negotiations to reconcile
differences in the two chambers’ bills.
The House did not include Filipino benefits in
the economic recovery bill it passed recently.
The one-time payment instead of a pension is a compromise that first
surfaced in the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee last year as a
suggestion from Rep. Bob Filner (D-California), committee chairman.
Congress last year approved appropriation of the
Filipino veterans’ benefits, but authorization for the payments
failed to gain support at the bicameral conference level.
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