After approving the belated lump sum benefits bill for Filipino World War II veterans, the US federal government is considering more legislation to benefit these old-timers who are dying at a rapid clip. A bill in the US Congress seeks to reunite those war vets staying in the US with their children left behind in the Philippines, some of whom may be old enough to have grandchildren themselves. US Lower House Resolution 2412 or the Filipino Veterans Reunification Act exempts the children of veterans from the numerical limitation on immigrant visas. [Read bill here] Hawaii District 2 Rep. Mazie Hirono sponsored the bill in Congress last May with a companion bill now pending in the US Senate, sponsored by Senator Daniel K. Akaka (D-Hawaii). Last month, Rep. Jackie Speier (San Francisco/San Mateo County) signed on as co-sponsor for the bill to express gratitude to the 200,000 Filipinos enlisted by the American government to fight alongside US armed forces when the Pacific war erupted in December 1941.
Filipino veterans with Representative Benjamin Gilman at the US Congress. Rick Rocamora
Speier had earlier urged the US federal government to support relief operations in the Philippines. [See:
RP's friend in US Congress: 'The House mourns'] “This bill, plain and simple, keeps a promise made by the United States government to those who helped us win World War II," Speier said. Ten US lawmakers, including Speier, have signed on as the bill’s co-sponsors emphasizing the renewed interest on the welfare of aging Filipino war veterans living in the US and in the Philippines. Akaka, who had long been pushing for Filipino war vets to be recognized by the US, said the Senate counterpart bill will address and resolve an issue rooted in a set of historical circumstances that are now nearly seven-decades old. “It does not require any appropriation and will serve to reunite these veterans with their children and honor their too-long-forgotten World War II service to this nation," he said in a press statement.
Final respects. Filipino war veteran Diosdado Baustista lies in state at the St. Patrick Church in San Francisco. He was found many days after his death in his room. He lived alone. Rick Rocamora
Of the 30,000 surviving Filipino World War II veterans, Akaka said 7,000 are US citizens residing in the US. Last February, US President Barack Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 tucked inside the mammoth US stimulus bill. Under the law, Filipino World War II veterans are eligible for the $15,000 (for US citizens) and $9,000 (for enlisted Filipinos) US benefits package. In 1941, over 200,000 Filipinos – then under American colonial tutelage – were drafted into the US armed forces and fought during World War II. In 1946, the US Congress passed the Rescissions Act, which authorized a $200 million appropriation to the Commonwealth Army of the Philippines, provided that their service was not deemed part of the active military or air service of the United States.
Alone. "Most of the time I eat alone because my family is not with me here in America. I am lucky a Filipino family gave me leftover food last night," says Porfirlo Almanarlo. Rick Rocamora
It took the US Congress more than four decades to acknowledge that Filipino World War II veterans had served in the US armed forces. The Immigration Act of 1990 included a provision that offered the opportunity to obtain US citizenship. H.R. 2412 amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to lift the limitation on immigrant visas for the children of Filipino World War II veterans who became citizens under the Immigration Act of 1990.
- Joseph Holandes Ubalde, GMANews.TV 
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