Filipino vet benefits must not be put off

They're getting old, really old, those Filipino American soldiers of Word War II. Many have died without ever receiving the benefits that have been promised now for 56 years.

The 1946 Rescission Act stripped them of their rights to a pension and other veteran benefits that their American counterparts received. And yet they fought side by side with U.S troops to reclaim the Philippines from Japan.

President Harry Truman later said, "I consider it a moral obligation of the United States to look after the welfare of the Filipino veterans."

Well, it's 2002 and high time Congress passed the Filipino Veterans Equity Act. There are 48,000 potential beneficiaries in the Philippines and about 13,000 in the United States, including 4,000 in Hawai'i.

Sure, it's going to cost the U.S. government tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars. But if we don't act soon, it will appear as though the U.S. is waiting for all the veterans to die. We trust that's not the case, but you can't blame some for wondering.

The matter of restoring justice to his country's World War II veterans is definitely on the mind of Albert del Rosario, the Philippine ambassador to the United States. While in Honolulu, he urged the United States to "address the injustices to our Filipino veterans who are diminishing by the day."

We've said it more than once, and we'll say it again. Give them their long-overdue pension, medical coverage and burial benefits now.