Ending the Death March for Filipino Vets
May 27, 2008
I continue to gain inspiration from a late friend of mine named Ernie Mabalon, a former guerrilla fighter in the Philippines during World War II, and a member of the United States armed forces in the Far East, 6th Military District, 2nd Battalion, 66th Infantry, E Company.
For his valor, he earned five medals. But he had to wait five decades for his medals to arrive from the Veterans Administration.
Too bad he couldn’t wait for the full VA rights due his fellow Filipino veterans. He died a few years ago.
I’m praying that by the time you read this Asian Americans and the entire nation can finally and proudly say the death march of politics for Filipino WWII vets is over.
I’d like to say that, but I can only hope — just like the Filipino veterans have hoped ever since Harry Truman took pen in hand and signed the Rescission Act of 1946. That’s the law that took away the citizenship and veterans’ rights of thousands of Filipino nationals who fought under the U.S. flag in WWII.
Ever since then, the Filipino vets have been left out in the cold. Only since the early ’80s, almost 30 years ago, has there been a real community movement to win back the rights granted by Roosevelt and then taken away by Truman.
The closest the vets have ever come was this week, when the House was to take up S. 1315, a measure passed by the Senate last month.
I didn’t cheer too loudly when the Senate passed the measure then because I knew the House vote would not be easy.
First came the requirement from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that if she were to spend political capital on the vets and bring the matter to the floor, she had better have a veto-proof proposal.
Madame Speaker required 60 Republican members of the House for a 290-member block to get the measure into the express lane, which would consider the measure under a suspended rules vote, limit debate and get the bill passed with a simple majority by Memorial Day.
By my deadline, Filipino lobbyists were scrambling to amass as many GOP congressional votes as possible and counted just 27 Republicans. Allies like GOP Congressman Darrell Issa were also gathering names to build the number up to 60.
If they made it by Memorial Day, we can celebrate like it’s Santo Nino Day! If not, then we’ll probably have a nice debate on each and every point within S. 1315, from term insurance for veterans to the more cogent part on the Filipino vets. And that means a protracted discussion through June on why aliens aren’t entitled to U.S. benefits no matter what service they performed for this country.
Rep. Stephen Buyer, R-Ind., was already lining up his forces to extend debate and resist S. 1315. Let’s hope he came to his senses.
There’s no good reason to continue to deny Filipino veterans their full disability pensions under current law. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that only about 14,200 Filipino veterans would be granted a pension in 2008, ranging from $3,600 a year for single veterans to $4,500 for married veterans.
Considering the attrition rate of the vets, only 1,500 would survive to 2017. All told, the CBO estimates the cost of the pension to reach $221 million.
S. 1315 also does away with what I call “The Filipino Discount.” This is the discount in services the U.S. has paid to the vets who have given up on the U.S. and returned to the Philippines. While Filipino vets are not eligible for disability pension, they are eligible for disability compensation — but only if they live in the U.S. Those who went back to the Philippines get just 50 percent compensation. S. 1315 would make them whole.
Equity also means making some Filipino veterans eligible for other benefits like dependent education and housing grants. It’s a measly $7 million over the next five years, and $11 million over the next 10.
Pay them already. If Congress didn’t act this week, what are they waiting for? The ghost of my friend, the decorated guerrilla fighter Ernie Mabalon, to wail on them?
I pray we go into Memorial Day with something that would make this year’s remembrance historical. I hope it’s time we can say the death march of politics for the Filipino vets of WWII is finally over.
Visit the blog at amok.asianweek.com or e-mail emil@amok.com.
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