[ OUR OPINION ]
Filipino fighters
deserve veterans benefitsFILIPINOS fought alongside American troops under U.S. command during World War II but most have unfairly been denied U.S. veterans benefits since the end of the war. Members of Hawaii's congressional delegation should continue their efforts in the next session to provide benefits that too long have been denied veterans who essentially were conscripted into the American armed forces.
THE ISSUE The Philippine president backs push to provide veterans benefits for Filipinos who fought with Americans in World War II.
The Philippines became a U.S. possession in 1898 as a result of the Spanish-American War and were given commonwealth status in 1934, becoming an independent nation in 1946. President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1941 ordered the Philippine army into the service of the U.S. armed forces.
More than 120,000 Filipino soldiers volunteered and served under the command of Gen. Douglas MacArthur, fighting at Corregidor and Bataan, subjecting themselves to death, injury, torture and incarceration as prisoners of war alongside American soldiers during Japanese occupation of the Philippines. Nearly half of the Filipino veterans are alive today, living in the United States or the Philippines, but their population is expected to decline to 20,000 by 2010.
As soon as the war was over, Congress unceremoniously declared Filipino veterans ineligible for benefits from the Veterans Administration. A 1990 law authored by Senator Inouye granted U.S. naturalization to nearly 25,000 Filipino veterans, including 3,000 who came to Hawaii, but they continue to be denied veterans benefits.
Two years ago, Congress provided access to health care and burial services for Filipinos who served directly in the U.S. armed forces, but Philippine commonwealth veterans are allowed VA health care only for war-related disabilities. Legislation to provide full benefits to the 11,000 Filipino veterans now living in the United States was approved by the House but probably will die in the Senate with the end of the current session of Congress.
During this week's visit in Hawaii, Philippines President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo told Filipino veterans that she discussed the legislation with Inouye and would urge President Bush to support it. Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony Principi has indicated his support. However, Senate Veteran Affairs Committee Chairman John Rockefeller IV, D-W.Va., has held up the bill while seeking compromise language.
If Congress adjourns without enacting the Inouye bill, prompt action should be taken in the next session to end years of shameful neglect. "Heroes should never be forgotten or ignored," Inouye, himself a World War II hero, told the House VA subcommittee in June. "Let us not turn our backs on those who sacrificed so much."
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