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The more than 35,000 surviving WWII Filipino veterans, have been waiting for the last 62 years for the US government to correct the “injustice" caused by the Rescission Act of 1946 - which deemed their service under the US flag as not service for purposes of benefits - and provide them compensation equitable to that of their American counterparts.

But after years of strong lobbying, the Filipino veterans, whose average age is 80, have to be content with a one-time compensation between $9,000 and $15,000 after the Senate version was killed and only the House version of the equity bill was approved.

H.R. 6897 would only provide Filipino veterans in the US a lump sum of $15,000 (about P695,000), and $9,000 (about P416,000) for those living in the Philippines.

S. 1315 or the Veterans’ Benefits Enhancement Act of 2007 offers a more comprehensive benefits package to Filipino veterans, which includes providing married Filipino veterans living in the Philippines with annual pension of $4,500, (about P210,000) and $3,600 (about P168,000) for single veterans.

Sighed Sandiganbayan retired justice Manuel Pamaran, vice president of the Veterans Federation of the Philippines (VFP): “We have no recourse but to accept it. We are the only ally that has been forgotten."

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