Dateline Los Angeles, California, June 12, 2009

F ilipino World War II veterans based both in the United States and the Philippines lament and criticize the long wait and slow processing of their lump-sum benefits.

The Justice for Filipino American Veterans (JFAV) reported that more-than 2,000 veterans in the Philippines and in the United States have received their one-time lump-sum checks. It was reported that Filipino veterans were given priority in processing while the US veterans will receive theirs later.

The JFAV pointed out that the US government is playing politics by giving benefits to Filipinos first for political reasons. This especially that several amendments to the proposed charter change being orchestrated by the Arroyo Administration will benefit the United States.

S ome of the proposed amendments are the changes in the economic provisions in the 1987 constitution that will give foreigners 100% ownership over land and Philippine-based corporations. Also up for review are the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) and the removal of the nuclear-free and the anti-bases provisions of the 1987 constitution.

The JFAV also pointed to the fact that contrary to the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) records that there are only 6,000 living veterans in the US, data show that there are still more-than 11,000 Filipino veterans in the United States. What makes the veracity of the data is that Filipino veterans come and go between the Philippines and the U.S.

Another glaring problem is the large number of applicants. Both the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO) and the DVA have reported that there are more than 32,000 veterans who have applied for benefits as of May 3, 2009.  More than 2,000 checks have been given out and the veterans have to wait until the money runs out.

Veterans can still apply for benefits until February 16, 2010, the last day of filing for benefits that gives only a one-time payment and make the veterans waive their rights for future benefits. # # #