Lawmakers Play Yankee Shell Games with Current and Past Veterans

Filipino-American WW-II Survivors Wallowing in Poverty, Old Age, and Sickness without Appreciable Relief Compared to their Counterpart Caucasian U.S. Veterans Comrade Survivors.

Filipino-American World War II veterans and retirees claim that $3.2 billion dollars is owed by the U.S. Government as reported to Congress by former General O Bradley, the then U.S. Veterans Administrator. 

A partial cash payment by the U.S. Government of $31-million dollars was received by the veterans after Brigadier General C.P. Romulo, denounced the “anti-veteran and un-American” treatment of Filipino-American WW-II veterans. The rest of the payments were small health and burial benefits comparable to the U.S. Caucasian counterpart veterans in the U.S. Mainland. 

Note that the Rescission Act of 1946 did away with the rightful Filipino-American WW-II…

veteran’s benefits except for disability and burial benefits. 

200,000 Filipino-American U.S Servicemen were conscripted (DRAFTED) by President F. Roosevelt in 1941 to fight and defend the U.S. flag in the Philippines. 

Court cases were filed and argued when only 66,000 Filipino-American survivors remained.   Filipino-Americans took the government to court and secured the opinion of Judge Robinson, of the Federal Court, for benefits earned in WW-II in the Philippines from 1941 to 1946. 

At present, the remaining WW-II survivors are less than 20,000, most wallowing in poverty, old age, sickness and without appreciable relief, compared to the Caucasian comrade survivors. 

Approximately, 8,000 of these veterans are residing here in the U.S, waiting for relief; meanwhile they exist under the “public” in the form of social security’s monthly assistance which is not a veteran’s benefit. They live in filthy ghettos compared to many homeless veterans. They are existing on food stamps, etc. They die at the rate of 15 percent each day without appreciable relief or settlement from huge obligations being delayed by the U.S. Government. 

Most Filipino-Americans will all die within the next 5 to 7 years and therefore would no longer be a claimant to their well earned benefits which are currently being withheld by the U.S. Government.  

That’s a dirty trick and a fraud which is currently happening to our current U.S military retirees and veterans today by the current lawmakers by short changing their benefits and numerous other attempts to take away promised benefits.  

Filipino-Americans call this dirty trick a Yankee Shell Game.”

Judge Robinson’s opinion, “There is no rational basis for treating Filipino-American WW-II U.S veterans differently from the members of the U.S Armed Forces.”

Filipino-American veterans have submitted concrete evidences that they were conscripted by President F. Roosevelt in 1941, to serve in the U.S. Army in the Far East (USAFFE) and later as recognized guerrillas after the surrender of the USAFFE to the obdurate Japanese Imperial forces in April 9, 1942. 

Filipino and American escapees from Bataan and Corregidor (the Bataan Death March in 1942) during the surrender joined the Filipino-American guerrillas and continued to fight the Japanese until 1946. These ex-U.S. servicemen saved thousands of American GI lives and billions of U.S. dollars for the United States in liberation of the Philippines. 

Some 30,000 of these surviving veterans were then recruited in 1946 by the U.S Armed Forces as New Philippine Scouts that were deployed as occupation troops in Japan, and other liberated areas in the Pacific (also were not fully paid benefits entitled them as U.S veterans.) They were authentic U.S. servicemen denied their rightful benefit also. 

Judge Robinson rejected the government’s argument that the political and economic plan which Congress had for the Philippines provided rational basis for the statute. He interpreted the government’s political and economic argument as merely involving a plan for saving money and found no logic between such plan, and the legitimate purpose of the veteran’s benefit.

Moreover the Filipino-American WW-II veterans produced concrete evidence that the 66,000, nationals of 16 allied nations that also fought for the U.S under the U.S flag were fully compensated, except the Filipino-American WW-II U.S ex-servicemen were singled out and dispossessed.

Judge Robinson’s opinion provided for benefits that were arbitrarily removed by the 79th Congress under a “rider” in the notorious Rescission Act of 1946 that took away all benefits lawfully entitled to Filipino-American WW-II veterans, declare unconstitutional.

Those benefits earned in battle in WW-II in the Philippines (Bataan, Corregidor and Philippine liberation Campaign, etc.) under the U.S. Army in the Far East (USAFFE) under General McArthur were then enumerated as follows: 

(1)     Non-service-connected pensions, (2) special adopted housing, (3) medical care, (4) automobile grants, (5) home Loans, (6) educational assistance, (7) burial at U.S. cemeteries, (8) vocational rehabilitation, (9) job training and placement, and (10) naturalization as U.S citizens under the Immigration Act of 1990. (Which elapsed and with unaffordable fees for application in the Philippines).

(2)  All above enumerated benefits are being enjoyed by all U.S WW-II veterans of the U.S Army like any member of the U.S Armed services.

Why the invidious racial and economic discrimination?

The U.S government dastardly offered the Philippine government in a collatilla (proviso) stating $200-million dollars in exchange for a quit claim of the total U.S obligation of $3.2 billion dollars. This was denounced by Brigadier General C.P Romulo on the floor of the House of Representatives in May of 1946 (SEE: U.S Congressional Record, May 1946, as anti-veteran and un-American that prompted partial payment of Filipino-American WW-II veterans benefits.)

Filipino-Americans U.S. ex-servicemen invoked the “Due Process” law. This secures all persons equal and impartial justice under the law (SEE: D.C.1920 276 F 861 Coley on constitutional limitation p-434 6th Ed 1820 and Columbia 1819 3 W144 AL Ed 559.) 

The economic necessity as the furnished reason by government for passage of the Rescission Act of 1946 will not place the law beyond the reach of the Constitutional guarantees concerning obligations and contracts. (SEE: Brown versus Ferdon Cal 1935 45 P 2nd 218).

Much deliberation in the U.S. Courts and in Congress quoting arguments won by Filipino-American veterans against the government, some of which – were declared unconstitutional is available for public review. 

MSgt James T. North
U.S. Marines, Retained
Fleet Marine Corps Reserve
Category II, Deployable