Filing of application for WWII veterans' benefits begins Thursday

MANILA, Philippines — Surviving Filipino veterans of World War II who are living in the Philippines and are eligible to receive benefits from the US government can start filing their application on Thursday, according to the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO). In an interview aired over GMA’s 24 Oras news program, Defense Undersecretary Ernesto Carolina, PVAO officer-in-charge, said a team from the US Department of Veterans Affairs would arrive in the Philippines Thursday to oversee the processing of claims. A video footage of the news report of Jun Veneracion showed PVAO workers preparing a big space where claims would be filed. Welcome banners for the US officials and veterans were all over the place. Carolina ordered the office readied after US President Barack Obama on Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila) signed the $787-billion Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 that included a $198-million pension benefits for Filipino World War II veterans. As explained by Sen. Daniel Inouye (Hawaii-Democrat), chairman of the US Senate Committee on Appropriations who inserted the amount for Filipino veterans in the stimulus package, the grant entails a one-time payment for Filipino WWII veterans living in the United States and in the Philippines. The benefits provide a tax-free, one-time $9,000 (roughly P430,000) nonservice connected compensation for veterans who are not US citizens, and $15,000 (roughly P717,000) for veterans who are US citizens. According to the PVAO, claimants are required to bring the following: • 2 valid ID cards • Veterans Affairs claim number • Service number • PVAO Claim Number • PVAO Pension Bank Account Number • US passport (for US citizens only) Carolina said the PVAO would also put up satellite offices in the regions so that claimants need not come to Manila, considering that most of those eligible to receive the benefit are above 80 years old and are sickly. A satellite processing office will also be set up at the Veteran’s Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City for the convenience of bed-ridden applicants seeking medical attention in the hospital. Carolina said only World War II veterans who are alive, or the veteran’s widow, could file their application for their claims, and they should appear personally before the processing offices. "The law is very clear. It's only the wife," he said. The filing of applications would be for a period of one year starting Thursday till Feb. 18, 2010, said Carolina. If the veteran has a record with the PVAO, his application could be approved in a month's time, according to Carolina. According to Rep. Bob Filner (California-Democrat), chairman of the US House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, who had also been championing the cause of Filipino war veterans for a long time, approximately 300,000 Filipinos fought against Japanese forces under the American flag during World War II. Filipino veterans, however, were denied equal status to American veterans and stripped of equal recognition, compensation, and benefits, when President Truman signed the Rescission Acts 63 years ago. Efforts by various American legislators to get the wrong corrected were repeatedly derailed through the decades. It took Obama, the first ever nonwhite US President, to get the compensation approved in barely a month since he assumed office. Unfortunately, less than 18,000 Filipino WWII veterans are alive today to enjoy the fruit of their struggle. Out of the 18,000 Filipino veterans, 12,000 are said to be living in the Philippines and 6,000 are living in the US. - GMANews.TV