All or Nothing
PerryScope
By Perry Diaz
October 20, 2006
Sixteen years ago, the Immigration Act of 1990 allowed some Filipino World War II veterans to be eligible for
United States citizenship. From November 1990 through February 1995, approximately 24,000 veterans
applied for naturalization under the new law. However, it did not provide veterans' benefits to these new
American citizens.
To this day, the Filipino veterans of World War II are not recognized as American veterans. This was the
result of the Rescission Act of 1946 which was signed into law by President Truman. The Act stated that
the service of Filipinos “shall not be deemed to be or to have been service in the military or national forces
of the United States or any component thereof or any law of the United States conferring rights, privileges, or
benefits.” That in essence is the law -- cold and brutal, to say the least. Since then, the Philippine
government has been lobbying to reverse the Rescission Act. Yes, after 60 years, a debt of blood and
honor has yet to be paid to the surviving Filipino veterans of World War II. Today, there are 7,000 veterans
living in the United States and 18,000 in the Philippines -- a small group of aging men compared to the
original number of 250,000 young Filipinos who heeded President Franklin Roosevelt’s “call to arms” to
defend America after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
Those who are now residing in the United States have banded into several groups. One of the biggest
organizations is the Virginia-based American Coalition for Filipino Veterans, Inc. (ACFV). ACFV has been
very successful in lobbying for the passage of several laws including increasing the medical health
benefits for US-based Filipino veterans. In addition, the veterans -- as American citizens -- are eligible for
SSI benefits.
These low-budget benefits were achieved through a “Step by Step” approach -- one small piece of
legislation at a time. However, other US-based Filipino veterans groups and the Philippine-based veterans
are not satisfied with this piecemeal legislation. They claimed that the “Step by Step” approach subverted
their efforts to lobby for the passage of a full equity bill. They used an “All or Nothing” approach, a strategy
that has not been successful.
The closest that the proponents of “All or Nothing” came to achieving their goal was during the 108th
Congress (2003-2004) when HR 677, Filipino Veterans Equity Act of 2003, had a total of 208 sponsors. A
bill needs 218 votes to pass in the House of Representatives. Many believe that had the bill been released
by the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee for debate and floor vote in the House, it would have garnered the
necessary votes to pass it. Sadly, the bill got stuck in the Benefits Subcommittee of the Veterans’ Affairs
Committee until the 108th Congress adjourned in December 2004.
When the 109th Congress opened, a carbon copy of the HR 677 -- HR 302, Filipino Veterans Equity Act of
2005 -- was introduced on January 25, 2005. An identical bill, S 146, was also introduced in the Senate. A
setback was suffered when Congressman Randy Cunningham, the author of HR 302, resigned from
Congress due to his conviction for corruption. On December 5, 2005, Congressman Darrell Issa
reintroduced the bill under HR 4574. As in the previous Congress, the key problem was in getting the
approval of the Senate and House Veterans’ Affairs Committees. Once again, the Filipino Veterans Equity
Bill was deemed dead, or was it “dead on arrival” at the committees?
Another bill that was introduced in the House was HR 170, Filipino Veterans Fairness Act, authored by
Congresswoman Juanita Millender-McDonald on January 4, 2005. This bill was to amend Title 38 of the
United States Code to improve benefits for Filipinos of World War II. Again, it got stuck in the House
Veterans’ Affairs Committee.
In late 2005, Congressman Lane Evans submitted a budget appropriation proposal of $22 million a year for
US-based and Philippine-based Filipino veterans. This would amount to $200 a month per veteran. For
the US-based veterans, this would have increased their monthly income to $800 -- which includes their SSI
benefits -- and $1,000 for California residents. For the Philippine-based veterans -- who are now receiving
10,600 pesos a month -- their pension would double. But the sad news is that Evans’ proposal was not
considered.
So, where is this leading to? In my opinion, if the strategy remains the same, the 110th Congress next year
would produce the same results as it did in the preceding 108th Congress -- zilch. The Philippine
government needs to overhaul its lobbying efforts and fine-tune its strategy as well. And the Filipino-
American community has to stop its divisive squabbling between the “Step by Step” and “All or Nothing”
groups. The fact that the 109th Congress did not produce any piecemeal legislation is a clear indication
that the “Step by Step” strategy has already ran its full course. It is time for the two factions to consolidate
their resources and this time go for “All or Nothing.”
The reason for an “All or Nothing” approach is that the Philippine-based veterans have never benefited from
any of the “Step by Step” piecemeal legislations. Since the US-based Filipino veterans couldn’t expect
anymore piecemeal legislation, they should now unify and lobby for full equity benefits for all veterans. They
need to send a strong message to Congress that there are 18,000 surviving war veterans in the Philippines
who had fought for the United States and have yet to receive a single penny from Uncle Sam. This is
unconscionable.
During the NaFFAA convention in Hawaii a few weeks ago, the keynote speaker, Congressman Mike
Honda, said, “The issue of Filipino veterans is not a partisan issue.” And then he posed a challenge to the
community, “How do we unite ourselves for this cause?” Obviously, it was a oblique reference to our
divisiveness in past campaigns for the equity bills. Congressman Honda or Congressman Darrell Issa
could not do anything to help us unless we as a community would come together as a unified force. We
should forego the “Me Muna” (me first) attitude and should -- nay, must! -- coalesce for the passage of a full
equity bill. But first, we need to educate the members of Congress because a lot of them don’t really know
-- most them are baby-boomers -- what the Filipino veterans had gone through during the past 60 years:
the ignominy of being denied recognition for their valor in defending America. We should not ask for
anything short of full equity. It should be all or nothing.
(PerryDiaz@aol.com)
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