Senate votes to provide pensions for Filipino allies in World War II

These people were fighting for their own country, they did not serve in our military for 20 years, and $300 a month is HUGE money for them. Why are our tax dollars paying for this? Are we going to pay the pensions of all Iraqis who fight beside our soldiers for their country??? Enough is enough.

To all the Filipinos (combatants & the civilians) who suffered during our conflict with the Japanese in WW2.. Salamat!(Thank You)..& to the extraordinarily brave combatants..I wish you would get more. In my opinion you deserve it. If you read some of these comments , there are obviously some of us who know your story, even today....

The House and Bush will kill it, and any benefits for our own vets anyway. Which is a whole lot sadder than any sob story about something the boomers should have stepped up to the plate and paid for out of their taxes, funny how it only becomes an issue when that generation is now retiring and safer from most taxes.

This was a subject of a documentary shown on ODU campus during ODU's OnFilm Festival last month. It's called 'Second Class Veterans'. It was a very moving documentary. You folks can argue the historical facts all you want to and throw your fits about pensions and what not, but it won't change the fact that obviously the Congress has seen fit to rectify some sort of mistake made in the past, which in turn gives some truth to the promise allegedly made by FDR.

I'm not going to lie. After seeing that moving documentary last month, I whispered a prayer for truth and resolution to this unjust situation. I guess this is the answer and outcome...

Mr Rob and Mrs Rose Maz, Mr Brown, etc.,

And to ALL of you who needs to be educated on world history, lighten up! These Filipino veterans deserved the benefits voted and passed by the US Senate. Because of the Philippines being an American colony, the Japanese bombed the Philippines, executed thousands and thousands of civilians, threw babies up in the air to be met by bayonets, and made hundreds of Filipino women as sex slaves-just because we sided with the Americans. Filipino guerillas helped hundreds of American POWS escaped out off Cabanatuan internment camp. The people of the Philippines helped feed those who march in the infamous Bataan Death March. And you are crying out for the $300 pension? Check out who among nations of the world receiving $Billions of OUR money from the US, yet, they opposed sending their troops to Iraq. For those Americans supporting this pension to our dying veterans, THANK YOU and may God Bless you.

As one who has intimately studied this issue as an undergraduate scholar in political science and economics as well as having published a journal article in law school on this issue, I am of the opinion that arguing that Filipinos do not deserve the compensation they were promised is borne from ignorance toward historical facts and circumstances. The Filipino veterans of World War II valiantly defended the interests of the United States when they themselves were products of U.S. colonization and imperialism having sacrifices their lives to defend the United States. The United States was not helping "liberalize" the Filipinos; the U.S. was helping its fellow Americans.

The "20 years" argument is erroneous as it is inapplicable to the promise made to the Filipino veterans. Our government promised over 200,000 Filipinos *full benefits* for serving in the United States military. Despite relying on this promise by defending this country from Japan, the Filipinos were stripped of all benefits. 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.

The Philippine minimum wage varies by region but the national daily average wage is around P283. In Metro Manila, the minimum wage is P350 a day. In terms of U.S. dollars, average wage is roughly $5.98/day, minimum wage in Manila is roughly $7.40/day. This equates to about $200 per month. So do not sit there and tell me that these guys are getting the same thing our vets get from the VA, because unless the VA suddenly started paying about $2000 a month (they actually pay ZERO) for every vet in the US and I am just not aware of it, it's bs.

http://bulk.resource.org/courts.gov/c/old/F2/999/999.F2d.514.93-7013.html

During World War II, Mr. Talon served with the Philippine Commonwealth Army. Pursuant to the Philippine Independence Act, Pub.L. No. 73-127, § 2(a)(12), 48 Stat. 456, 457 (1934), President Roosevelt issued a Military Order on July 26, 1941, in which he ordered into the service of the Armed Forces of the United States all the organized military forces of the Government of the Philippines. 6 Fed.Reg. 3825 (1941). In 1946, Congress passed legislation which provided that the military service covered by the President's order did not entitle the Philippine veterans to the rights, privileges, or benefits afforded veterans who served in the active military, naval, or air service. See 38 U.S.C. § 107(a) (1988).

http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/timeline/4107int.html

26 July 1941 President Roosevelt nationalized the armed forces of the Philippines for the duration of the American emergency.

("Under and by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution of the United States, by Section 2 (a) (12) of the Philippine Independence Act of March 24, 1934 (48 Stat. 457), and by the corresponding provision of the Ordinance appended to the Con­stitution of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, and as Com­mander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, . . ." Vol. 6, Federal Register, p. 3825.)

We ARE already paying the rest of the world retirement benefits. Twelve to twenty million illegal immigrants are getting SS, Medicare and Medicad which is costing us along with their kids attending our schools over $336 billion a year. Who do you think is paying them?, WE ARE and have been for several years. At least the Filipinos were fighting for us
to get the Philippine Islands back into American hands and yes, on July 4, 1946 the US Government gave them their independence as was promised to them by FDR and the American Government during WWII. They deserve every penny which they will receive in benefits, as you see many of their family members were executed by the Japs and their women were raped and made to be concubines for the Japs in the PI. If France had followed through on their promise to Ho Chi Minh for fighting the Japs in SE Asia there never would have been a Vietnam War and HST did not make the French come through on their promise of independence to Ho Chi Minh. About time the Filipinos got their rewards for their service.

stevem...will just take the money out of your bank account...problem solved!

Realistically, most of these gents are pushing 90 so just how many more years are they really going to collect?

Give them their pension. If we can waste billions monthly in Iraq we can surely spend a little on our Filipino neighbors who fought for us.

Im having a hard time with this one. One could easily say they were fighting for our thier country. Perhaps they should be sending a pension to all the American service people that served their.

I really dont know enough about this.

This is long over due. These Filipinos fought against Japan on our behalf. They are also US Vetrans, because the Philippines was a US territory when they were recruited, promised benefits, enlisted, and fought for us.

The main people that do not want them to get compensation are the far right wingers that feel no one should pay taxes and the US will magically support its infrastructure with the money that grows on trees or found at the end of rainbows.

It has nothing to do with "are we rich". It a matter of right and wrong. And to deny them their earned benefits is wrong.

The government continues to chip away at the retirement benefits, including the pension of US military retirees..

If your going to talk about WW2 Guerillas you forgot the French,German ,Italian where would one stop they all had their part in the war if any one of them deserve anything they all should..its hard to say where fairness would start and stop...but to single one out would be unfair to others...someone opened pandoras box here :(

Let's look at this another way. In the 40's the Philippines was a Commonweath of the US. Their Commonwealth Army could rightly be the equivalent of the National Guard. We have ordered the National Guard of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to service in Iraq. Should our nation deny those soldiers veterans benefits simply because they are from Puerto Rico? If some factions in PR succeed in their Independence movement, would we deny those soldiers because PR became a separate country?

Or is this benefit just for Phillipine nationals who served in this war.

All you 'retirees' whining that the Filipino vets are getting something that wasn't earned, get a clue. They aren't receiving retirement benefits like our military gets after 20 years of service. They are getting VA benefits, just like any other veteran would get if they are low income. The reason they get more now is because our government gave them the shaft in 1945. Call it payment with 60 years of interest. And for all those that think these vets weren't part of the US Army read the following. Service Described- before July 1, 1946, in the organized military forces of the Government of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, while such forces were in the service of the Armed Forces of the United States pursuant to the military order of the President dated July 26, 1941. THEY WERE ORDERED INTO THE US ARMY BY PRESIDENTIAL ORDER.

Has anyone actually done the math on this? 4.5 mill per month, and 54 mill per year. Who's paying this?

With Rose on this one, we can't even afford to fix roads around here, now we are going to spend more tax money we don't have on something that will honestly make very little difference as most of the people who were there are already dead of old age.

I also did my 20 in the Navy but there is a BIG difference comparing the situation to the WORLD WAR. Those who spilled their blood and had died engaged in actual combat even in the shortage of modern weaponry. How about us - 20-year termers? We did not even encounter a tyrant face to face!?! We enjoyed the liberty in the shores Palma, Spain, toured the beautiful sceneries of the Mediterranean, did shopping in Hong Kong, drank beer in the "sand box" of Jebel Ali, etc, etc, etc. You might have gone to the theatre but did not actually engage in hand to hand combat. Maybe you were onboard playing cards, or sleeping a Sunday holiday routine.
Nevertheless, these politicians (and actually veterans themselves who had experienced the bitterness of war) voted right and I salute them in giving just compensation to their allies.

Here is a refresher history lesson: when the US won the Spanish-American war in 1898, the Spanish were forced to give us the Phillipines, Guam, Puerto Rico and Cuba (we gave Cuba their independence in 1902). From Jun 12, 1898 to July 4, 1946, the Phillipines were a territory of the United States. So when the Japanese invaded the PI, they were in fact invading US territory. These Filipino veterans were not just our "allies", they were Americans. Their homes, farmlands and cities were ravaged and destroyed and they fought back. No different then if it would have been Kansas or Virginia that had been invaded. Final note, The United States granted the Phillipines their independence on July 4, 1946 (after the war).

I need more information. To fairlane_68 the last time the US faced losing the country to a tyrant was when the Supremes appointed G.W. in the 2004 fake_u_out election. Since, the tyrant warmonger has screwed up a surplus, cut US social programs, forced every income level to take a step or two down, caused trouble and disfavor world wide by a unjust war that has resulted in 4,000+ American DEATHS (population control) and PRICE INCREASES WORLD WIDE for anything that need be transported by a fueled motor, all for his lustful ulterior oil driven motives. As for the cost of the Filipino stimulus pensions, on September 10, 2001, 911-1=(910)or 9-10-2001, the Congress and the Senate were scaring the beJesus out of any one who had listened and was considering receiving social security. It won't last. The sky is falling. Since, over 600 BILLION dollars spent in Iraq. So, I would not worry about the cost of these Filipino pensions so much as I would consider, the countries current divisive situation with the foundation building American Indians and the African Americans who's “Contributions and Blood” are woven into the fabric of this countries’ spirit on the US's very own soil.

They fought to liberate their own homeland. We fought to retake a stategic position. If anything, they owe us! What about all of the other Asian people who were our allies. Will we also one day owe a retirement to Iraqis who are fighting on our side? or Afghanis? Oh the dollars we give away!

As an American (of Filipino descent), I am grateful for EVERY veteran's service to our country. However, I don't agree with the pension for Filipino veterans in the US. As a whole, Filipinos have done very well in America. In regards to the Filipinos in the Philippines, well, it's a shame about the poverty level, but I am an American, and the Philippines needs to take care of itself and it's own citizens. America is the most giving country in the world, but this pension is going too far.

as a 100% totally and permanently disabled veteran that relies solely on my VA compensation, if my wife didn't work we would be living on the streets. Just another example of our government at its finest. We feed the world, we repair them after natural disasters, we protect them, now we pay them retirement, when we have people in our own country that are starving, homeless and served their country honorably and can't afford to live in the country anymore. Something is wrong here.

almost ashamed to say, I just learned, once one of these "give away" programs becomes law, after 3 years it then becomes an "entitlement" and cannot be cut or dropped. The problem with the whole deal is our Gov't is too quick to offer a quick "temporary" fix that almost always becomes a permanant fix. Then the way the law is, instead of cutting stuff from the bottom to add new programs at the top of the list,nothing ever gets trimmed off the long list of programs the state or federal gov't must fund, therefore our taxes keep going up and we are getting almost nothing in return. Just remember.....anything the Gov't gets involved with almost always winds up being more screwed up than it started out as.

Come on people, are we going to start paying retirement for everyone in the world? Also, as other posters have stated, in order to receive a retirement from the US Military you have to serve at least twenty years. How long did these people fight to save their own country? Notice, "their own country". We have reached the bottom of the tax dollar bucket. We can not afford to even continue to pay for all the give away programs that are already in place, yet our politicians seem to think they can add on more burdens to our tax dollars. In case you don't understand, this money doesn't come from the feelgood giveaway program fairy, it comes from YOUR paycheck. The money that funds all these give aways is taking the food out of the mouth of YOUR family. You are working hard to support your family, yet you are almost living paycheck to paycheck. Then along comes a bunch of bonehead politicians and want to take more from you to give to someone else. It's time that the government starts cutting back on the give aways and the nice to have projects. WE the TAXPAYERS, can no longer afford it. Write down which politicians support each program you disagree with and stop voting for those politicia

Our goverment is out of control and we need to do something about it!
This week the goverment froze all student loans due to the economy. I know 2 young people that received that notifaction on Monday.One 18 year old was 6 months for finishing school.This is not the country it used to be and keeps getting worse!!!!