Photo: State of Filipino World War II Veterans

The dilapidated headquarters of the Veterans Federation of the Philippines in Zamboanga City reflects the poor situation of Filipino war veterans.

During World War II, over 200,000 Filipinos served with the Unites States Military. They were promised with all the benefits afforded to those serving in the US military. However, in 1946, the US Congress passed the Rescission Act which stripped Filipinos of all the benefits promised. Of the sixty-six countries allied with the United States during the war, the Philippines is the only country that did not receive military benefits from the United States.

Since the passage of the Rescission Act, many Filipino veterans have traveled to the United States to lobby Congress for the benefits promised to them for their service and sacrifice. Over 30,000 of such veterans live in the United States today, with most being American citizens. Sociologists introduced the phrase "Second Class Veterans" to describe the plight of these Filipino Americans. Since 1993, numerous bills were introduced in Congress to return the benefits taken away from these veterans. However, the bills died in committee. The current "full equity" bills are S.57 in the Senate, and H.R. 760 in the House of Representatives.

Filipino veterans, many of them too old and sick, only receive a measly P5, 000 monthly pensions from the Philippine government. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)