UPDATE ON VETERANS

With the nation's attention now focused on domestic issues, the Filipino American community is gearing up to rabble-rouse once again about the plight of Filipino World War II veterans when Congress resumes on April 29. The participation of Filipino American servicemen in the U.S. invasion of Iraq, it is hoped, will cast the veteran’s story in a more favorable light.

The American Coalition for Filipino Veterans is renewing its push for the passage of a health bill, HR 664 and S.68. The immediate goal: hold hearings in the House and Senate Veterans Affairs committees.

The National Network for Veterans Equity (NNVE), with chapters in San Francisco, New Jersey and Chicago, is preparing to launch another grassroots campaign. As it did in the last two years, NNVE is working hard to put pressure on Congress to pass HR 677 - the Filipino Veterans Equity Bill of 2003. Here in Chicago, NNVE's affiliate chapter is intensifying its education and organizing work.

For instance, it is collaborating with the Pintig Cultural Group to present "Alien Citizen" during Asian Heritage Month. Headed by IVEC President Arcadio Calabas and FilCRA coordinator Jerry Clarito, this effort to highlight the immigrants and veterans issue deserves community support. The play itself, described as "a riveting piece of theatre," calls attention to the injustice created by the U.S. Rescission Act of 1946, which denied rights and benefits to many Filipino veterans.

The Los Angeles-based FilAmVets Foundation, Inc., for its part, plans to take advantage of President Arroyo's state visit on May 19 by organizing a caravan to Washington DC. It plans to appeal to President Bush to issue an executive order forming a Filipino World War II Veterans Commission under the auspices of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

In the view of its members, this measure would help facilitate "a final resolution for entitlement of full U.S. veteran’s benefits for those Filipino veterans who served under the U.S. Army Forces and the American Flag regardless of their present residence and citizenship."

Organizers of these various initiatives all agree that their strategic mission is to restore the honor and dignity of Filipino veterans. Nothing short of HR 677's passage will bring closure to their long struggle for equity and justice.

The National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA) and the Philippine Embassy are working closely with these groups to achieve this goal.