COMMENTARY
Filipino veterans due war benefits
By David A. Pendleton
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Filipino veterans have long sought to have their active military service during World War II properly recognized. In recent years, they have lobbied in support of legislation that would deem their service as active service for purposes of benefits under programs administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
What does this mean? It means they would receive the benefits as though their service had been in the U.S. armed forces. Of course, some Filipinos formally served in the U.S. armed forces, and they receive all benefits accorded U.S. veterans.
The issue, however, has to do with those who had not been part of the U.S. armed forces but who had fought alongside them.
The strongest argument in favor of providing full veterans benefits to Filipino veterans rests on two factual representations cited in resolutions passed by the Honolulu City Council and the state House of Representatives — namely, that President Franklin D. Roosevelt's July 26, 1941, executive order indicated that those Filipinos volunteering for the Philippine Commonwealth Army and Philippine Scouts would be entitled to full veterans benefits for active service during the war. But the Feb. 18, 1946, Rescission Act withdrew U.S. veterans status from these Filipinos, in effect breaking our promise.
Two measures have been introduced this year to make good on our promise. Republican Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham of California, as well as 10 other U.S. representatives, initially introduced H.R. 302 in the House. The measure has been referred to the House Veterans Affairs Committee.
The companion measure is S. 146, introduced in the U.S. Senate by Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawai'i. That measure has been referred to the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs, on which Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawai'i, is the ranking minority member. The short title for each of the bills is "Filipino Veterans Equity Act of 2005."
These bills would amend Section 107 of title 38, U.S. Code, such that service in the organized military forces of the Philippines and in the Philippine Scouts is deemed to be active service for purposes of receiving benefits administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. The result of this amendment will be that a Filipino having served in the military forces of the Philippines or in the Philippine Scouts will receive the same benefits as a veteran who served in the U.S. armed forces. Presently they receive some, but not all, such benefits.
Examples of some of the key U.S. veterans benefits include healthcare, survivor and burial benefits. Eligibility depends on individual circumstances. And certain VA benefits require wartime service, so not all U.S. armed forces veterans receive the same benefits.
The U.S. recognizes service in four groups as qualifying for some VA benefits:
One needs to remember that the particular circumstances of Filipino fighters differed considerably. Some of the Filipino veterans actually served in the U.S. armed forces (these USAFFE veterans receive all veterans benefits). Other Filipino veterans clearly served in the Philippine government forces (these receive none from the U.S.). Still other Filipino veterans fall "somewhere in the middle," as the VA explains, and these receive some, but not all, VA benefits.
Yet given those distinctions, the forces occupying the Philippines used the same guns, bullets and bayonets against the Filipino fighters, regardless of the formal arrangements and designations under which they took up the cause of liberation. They all bled when wounded, and died with the same hope of ending the Japanese occupation. The horrors of combat did not recognize the distinctions we make much of today.
The bills as introduced take the bright-line approach of according the same benefits to Filipino veterans that are accorded to veterans of the U.S. armed forces. The bright-line approach taken in the bills is the only one consistent with the position that at the time of the Japanese invasion, the Philippines was, in fact, a U.S. territory, not an independent country, and so all service by Filipinos during World War II should be deemed service in the U.S. armed forces. The fact that the Philippines was a U.S. territory was probably a factor in making it a target for the Japanese invasion.
Because of the cost, the policy argument against the Filipino veterans equity bill has been that the Philippine government should make up the difference, in effect caring for its own people. Consequently, this issue received little support over the years from either national political party.
With the high cost of Hurricane Katrina and the military commitments in Afghanistan and Iraq, it will still take a lot of lobbying to move these bills forward given the price tag. But try we must. This is not just a Filipino issue, it is also a veterans issue. It is not about Republicans or Democrats, it's about what is right.
Gov. Linda Lingle strongly supports passage of these Filipino veterans equity measures and has written to President Bush and the chairmen of the respective U.S. House and Senate Veterans Affairs committees.
She personally raised this issue with Secretary of Veterans Affairs R. James Nicholson when he visited with her here.
Yet it is not enough to let the elected leaders work on this issue. In the late 1990s, when I served in the state House of Representatives, I had the privilege of flying to Washington, D.C., and testifying before Congress in support of these measures.
Every person committed to justice and fairness needs to speak up now. Now is the time to write, e-mail, or fax Congress urging swift passage of the Filipino Veterans Equity Act.
We cannot delay on this issue. The veterans cannot wait. In a few years, there will be no Filipino veterans left alive to benefit from passage of these measures. Justice delayed will be justice denied.
