Filipino vets to
receive health benefits
A bill to grant health care benefits to Filipino veterans has passed the House Veterans' Affairs Health Subcommittee and is headed toward full committee and House passage, according to U.S. Rep. Ed Case.
The passage of this bill will grant Filipino veterans health and pension benefits that they were promised after World War II but never given.
"This top legislative priority of our Filipino community addresses a historic injustice to Filipino veterans of World War II," Case said.
Though around 250,000 Filipinos fought alongside American soldiers in the war, the Rescission Acts of 1946 stripped Filipino veterans of their benefits when it declared that their service in World War II would not be treated as recognizable military service.
"I strongly support this bill because it takes us one more step toward fully restoring the veterans' benefits unjustly taken away from Filipino veterans," Case said.