Rodel E. Rodis, July 26, 2007
Sixty-six years ago this week on July 26, 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt issued a military order
drafting all Philippine Commonwealth soldiers into the US Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE) under
the command of Gen. Douglas MacArthur, pledging that the conscripted Filipinos would be entitled to the
same benefits as American soldiers, and the right to apply for US citizenship under a 1940 law.
What was the reward for the steadfast loyalty of the Filipinos to the US during the war?
One month after Japan surrendered in August of 1945, the US Attorney-General revoked the authority of
the naturalization officer at the US Embassy in Manila to process the citizenship applications of Filipino
USAFFE soldiers. The US Embassy only began processing their applications in August of 1946, with only
four months to the cut-off date, allowing just 4,000 Filipinos – out of 200,000 eligible - to apply for and
receive US citizenship.
For good measure, Congress passed the Rescission Act on February 18, 1946 decreeing that Filipino
USAFFE soldiers shall not be entitled to US veterans’ benefits.
It was not until a Filipino veteran named Marciano Haw Hibi filed his petition for naturalization in the US
District Court in San Francisco on September 13, 1967 that a challenge was made to the government’s
actions in 1946.
The US government should be “estopped” from denying his application, Haw Hibi argued, because its
“affirmative misconduct” in revoking the naturalization officer’s authority caused the delay. When his
petition was denied, Haw Hibi appealed his case to the US Supreme Court, which by a 6-3 decision on
October 23, 1973, affirmed the lower court.
The dissenting Supreme Court justices criticized the majority for ignoring “the deliberate - and successful
- effort on the part of agents of the Executive Branch to frustrate the congressional purpose and to deny
substantive rights to Filipinos.”
The dissent inspired many veterans to apply for naturalization. In 1976, the cases of 68 veterans were
collectively assigned to District Court Judge Charles Renfrew, who ruled in their favor after hearing their
impassioned pleas.
After the government initially appealed the Renfrew decision, the administration of President Jimmy Carter
withdrew it, allowing the 68 veterans to be sworn in as US citizens.
Following Renfrew, hundreds of “Hibi veterans” filed their applications, causing the Carter Administration
to reconsider its position and deny the veterans’ naturalization applications in 1978. The District Court
reversed the INS in Mendoza v. INS, ruling that the government was “collaterally estopped” because it
withdrew its appeal of the Renfrew decision.
When the case reached the Supreme Court, however, Mendoza 's petition was unanimously denied on
January 10, 1984 ruling that "collateral estoppel" applied only to private litigants.
The Supreme Court confronted the Filipino veterans issue again in INS v.Pangilinan in 1988, this time on
the veterans’ contention that federal courts, as courts of equity, can provide an equitable remedy. The
Court ruled unanimously that courts do not have the "equitable power to confer citizenship in violation of
the limitations imposed by Congress in the exercise of its exclusive constitutional authority over
naturalization."
The Pangilinan denial effectively ended all efforts by Filipino veterans to obtain relief through the courts,
shifting the battleground to Congress. Starting in 1986, members of the US Congress, led by Sen. Daniel
Inouye and Rep. Tom Campbell, sponsored bills to grant naturalization to Filipino veterans.
To secure its inclusion in the Immigration Reform Act of 1990, Rep. Campbell assured his colleagues that
citizenship will not make the Filipino veterans “eligible for federal benefits which they do not receive.”
With that assurance, Congress included veterans naturalization in the bill, which was signed into law by
Pres. George H. Bush on November 30, 1990. The naturalization provision stipulated that its enactment
“shall not be construed as affecting the rights, privileges or benefits” of the Filipino veterans, thereby
preserving the Rescission Act.
For the next 17 years, the veterans would lobby Congress for passage of a Filipino Veterans Equity Bill
which would rescind the Rescission Act. On July 17, 2007, the House Veterans Affairs Committee voted to
send the veterans’ bill (HR 760) to the full House for a vote. A counterpart bill (S. 1315) in the Senate is
also headed for a Senate vote.
Now, 66 years after Roosevelt made the promise that was betrayed by the Rescission Act, Filipino
veterans may finally see his promise redeemed.
Send comments to Rodel50@aol.com.
Sixty-six years ago this week on July 26, 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt issued a military order
drafting all Philippine Commonwealth soldiers into the US Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE) under
the command of Gen. Douglas MacArthur, pledging that the conscripted Filipinos would be entitled to the
same benefits as American soldiers, and the right to apply for US citizenship under a 1940 law.
What was the reward for the steadfast loyalty of the Filipinos to the US during the war?
One month after Japan surrendered in August of 1945, the US Attorney-General revoked the authority of
the naturalization officer at the US Embassy in Manila to process the citizenship applications of Filipino
USAFFE soldiers. The US Embassy only began processing their applications in August of 1946, with only
four months to the cut-off date, allowing just 4,000 Filipinos – out of 200,000 eligible - to apply for and
receive US citizenship.
For good measure, Congress passed the Rescission Act on February 18, 1946 decreeing that Filipino
USAFFE soldiers shall not be entitled to US veterans’ benefits.
It was not until a Filipino veteran named Marciano Haw Hibi filed his petition for naturalization in the US
District Court in San Francisco on September 13, 1967 that a challenge was made to the government’s
actions in 1946.
The US government should be “estopped” from denying his application, Haw Hibi argued, because its
“affirmative misconduct” in revoking the naturalization officer’s authority caused the delay. When his
petition was denied, Haw Hibi appealed his case to the US Supreme Court, which by a 6-3 decision on
October 23, 1973, affirmed the lower court.
The dissenting Supreme Court justices criticized the majority for ignoring “the deliberate - and successful
- effort on the part of agents of the Executive Branch to frustrate the congressional purpose and to deny
substantive rights to Filipinos.”
The dissent inspired many veterans to apply for naturalization. In 1976, the cases of 68 veterans were
collectively assigned to District Court Judge Charles Renfrew, who ruled in their favor after hearing their
impassioned pleas.
After the government initially appealed the Renfrew decision, the administration of President Jimmy Carter
withdrew it, allowing the 68 veterans to be sworn in as US citizens.
Following Renfrew, hundreds of “Hibi veterans” filed their applications, causing the Carter Administration
to reconsider its position and deny the veterans’ naturalization applications in 1978. The District Court
reversed the INS in Mendoza v. INS, ruling that the government was “collaterally estopped” because it
withdrew its appeal of the Renfrew decision.
When the case reached the Supreme Court, however, Mendoza 's petition was unanimously denied on
January 10, 1984 ruling that "collateral estoppel" applied only to private litigants.
The Supreme Court confronted the Filipino veterans issue again in INS v.Pangilinan in 1988, this time on
the veterans’ contention that federal courts, as courts of equity, can provide an equitable remedy. The
Court ruled unanimously that courts do not have the "equitable power to confer citizenship in violation of
the limitations imposed by Congress in the exercise of its exclusive constitutional authority over
naturalization."
The Pangilinan denial effectively ended all efforts by Filipino veterans to obtain relief through the courts,
shifting the battleground to Congress. Starting in 1986, members of the US Congress, led by Sen. Daniel
Inouye and Rep. Tom Campbell, sponsored bills to grant naturalization to Filipino veterans.
To secure its inclusion in the Immigration Reform Act of 1990, Rep. Campbell assured his colleagues that
citizenship will not make the Filipino veterans “eligible for federal benefits which they do not receive.”
With that assurance, Congress included veterans naturalization in the bill, which was signed into law by
Pres. George H. Bush on November 30, 1990. The naturalization provision stipulated that its enactment
“shall not be construed as affecting the rights, privileges or benefits” of the Filipino veterans, thereby
preserving the Rescission Act.
For the next 17 years, the veterans would lobby Congress for passage of a Filipino Veterans Equity Bill
which would rescind the Rescission Act. On July 17, 2007, the House Veterans Affairs Committee voted to
send the veterans’ bill (HR 760) to the full House for a vote. A counterpart bill (S. 1315) in the Senate is
also headed for a Senate vote.
Now, 66 years after Roosevelt made the promise that was betrayed by the Rescission Act, Filipino
veterans may finally see his promise redeemed.
Send comments to Rodel50@aol.com.
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