Benefits expanded for Filipino WWII veterans

By Richard Simon
Los Angeles Times

WASHINGTON — In 1997, Guillermo O. Rumingan, now 77, chained himself to the White House fence to protest what to him was a long-standing injustice: the absence of veterans' benefits for Filipinos like himself who fought alongside Americans in World War II.

Domingo Los Banos of Pearl City said Filipino veterans will be honored in a monument to be unveiled Dec. 28 at the Filipino Community Center in Waipahu. Advertiser library photo • Dec. 20, 2001

"It's a good feeling," said Rumingan, an Arlington, Va., resident who has spent decades lobbying for the benefits and who wore an American-flag tie to the bill-signing. "Because at long last, we are equal to our counterparts in the United States Army."

The bill signing was the climax of an emotional, decades-long struggle by the dwindling group of Filipino World War II veterans to obtain the same benefits as those who fought beside them.

Hawai'i is home to 2,500 Filipinos who fought with Americans in the war, said Joe Gonzales, president of the World War II Fil-Am Veterans.

"We are happy about it," said Gonzales, 79, who was a private first class when he was discharged from the Filipino army. "So many years already we have rallied, shouting in the streets.

"Most of the veterans of other allied nations, like European and Asian veterans who participated in the war effort, after the war they were getting their pension and compensation," he added. "It seemed that we were discriminated against."

The veterans have been discussing the imminent signing of the bill and anticipate receiving benefits in a month or two, he said.

Filipino soldiers assisted Gen. Douglas MacArthur in retaking the Philippines from the Japanese during World War II. Advertiser library photo

The Filipino veterans — many of whom are now U.S. citizens — say President Franklin D. Roosevelt pledged to give them full benefits for fighting under the U.S. flag. The promise was made in 1941, when the Philippines was a U.S. colony. Nearly 200,000 Filipinos served.

But in 1946, a year after the Japanese surrender, Congress reneged on the pledge. In 1990, Congress granted the veterans citizenship rights, but they have continued to battle for veterans' benefits.

The veterans, many of them survivors of the infamous Bataan Death March and now in their 70s and 80s, have staged demonstrations over the years, including chaining themselves to a statue of Gen. Douglas MacArthur, their former commander, in 1997 in Los Angeles' MacArthur Park. Their campaign received a boost because of Bush's desire to maintain strong ties with the Philippines, an important ally in the war on terrorism. The issue of benefits for the veterans was raised during Bush's October visit to the Philippines in talks with President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

The measure signed yesterday, part of a larger veterans' benefits package, extends full war-related disability pension and burial benefits to about 100 Filipino veterans and 400 dead soldiers' widows living in the United States. They have received benefits at half the rate paid to U.S. veterans.

Bush earlier this month signed a measure extending Veterans Affairs health benefits to an estimated 7,000 surviving Filipino World War II veterans living in the United States. The estimated cost of the measures is $16 million a year.

Several Filipino veterans took advantage of the new law immediately, enrolling yesterday at the VA medical center in Washington.

The fight is far from over, however.

The veterans continue to push legislation that would grant a broader package of U.S. veterans' benefits, including full access to VA healthcare for the estimated 21,000 Filipino World War II veterans living in the Philippines. They also seek pensions for low-income veterans: up to $800 a month for those living in the United States and $100 a month for those in the Philippines.

Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif., who has sponsored legislation to grant the benefits to Filipino veterans and who was arrested in a 1997 demonstration outside the White House, said yesterday after attending the signing, "This is an important step, but it's only the first step." But the broader benefits package faces a tougher time in Congress because of its cost, expected to be tens of millions of dollars.