http://www.vba.va.gov/VBA/benefits/factsheets/serviceconnected/filipinovets.doc

Benefits for Filipino Veterans

Which Filipino Veterans Are Eligible for Benefits?

Filipino veterans with service in one of the following military forces may establish eligibility to VA benefits:

·         Armed Forces of the United States.

·         Commonwealth Army of the Philippines with service from July 26, 1941 through June 30, 1946 while the Commonwealth Army was in the Armed Forces of the United States.

·         Regular Philippine Scouts who enlisted prior to October 6, 1945.

·         Insular Force of the U.S. Navy.

·         Special Philippine Scouts who enlisted between October 6, 1945 and June 30, 1947.

·         Guerilla with service prior to July 1, 1946.

What Type of Monetary Benefits Are Available?

Service-connected disability compensation, non service-connected pension, and a clothing allowance are the three benefits available to Filipino veterans.

Compensation is a monthly payment to a veteran disabled by an injury or a disease incurred or aggravated on active service.  You must have been discharged under other than dishonorable conditions to be eligible, and must currently suffer from disabling symptoms to receive compensation. 

Clothing allowance is an annual payment to a veteran, if he/she has a service-connected disability or condition that requires the veteran to wear or use a prosthetic or orthopedic device that wears out or tears clothing.  The clothing allowance may also be paid if physician-prescribed medication for a service-connected skin condition causes irreparable damage to clothing.

The following table details which benefits are available based on the type of service performed.  Benefits are payable at a rate of $.50 (half rate) or $1.00 (full rate) for each dollar authorized.  Unless otherwise noted, payment is made at the full rate.

What Type of Health Care Benefits Are Available?

VA provides hospital, nursing home, and outpatient medical care to certain Filipino veterans in the same manner such care is provided to U.S. veterans.  Regular Philippine Scouts are eligible for health care benefits based on their status as U.S. veterans.  Commonwealth Army, Special Philippine Scouts, and Guerilla veterans are eligible for health care benefits in the U.S. on the same basis as U.S. veterans if they reside in the U.S. and are citizens or are lawfully admitted for permanent residence.

For More Information, Call Toll-Free 1-800-827-1000

or Visit Our Web Site at http://www.va.gov.

Compensation & Pension Service – October 2008

(Date downloaded from the VA website 9/6/2009 w/ color higlights made by M.E. Embry)

Belated Pay For Filipino WWII Vets a Bittersweet VictoryNew America Media, News Analysis, Rene P. Ciria-Cruz, 2/18/2009

http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=618dcde99a2fac43aba625df76b5951a&from=rss

Equity or Not Equity

Source: Filipino veterans to get long-overdue payments under stimulus bill by Tony Perry and Richard Simon  2/18/2009

many veterans, including (Cenon) Antonio, 82 think the payment is inadequate…a retired colonel in the Philippine army.. "This payment is not nearly enough to compensate for what we did," Antonio said.

Retired U.S. Army Col. Ed Ramsey, who escaped the Bataan Death March and organized Filipino guerrilla forces, agrees ("payment is inadequate)."It's just a way to end it all, to make sure there are no more claims," said Ramsey, 91, who lives in Los Angeles.

"This is not really what we wanted, but I've told the veterans that we have to be realistic, said Romeo Monteyro, 74, a retired colonel in the Philippine army who lives in Arizona and was part of the lobbying effort.
Manny Braga…81."commander of the San Diego branch of the Filipino veterans association…"This payment is insufficient

Source: Filipino War Veterans, Supporters Eye Next Moves Balitang America/ABS-CBN News, Rodney J. Jaleco:2/21/2009 http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=d25d5249bccb5444ec9184364f5cdee6&from=rss        Although he’s also thankful, Dr. Angelesio Tugado, 89, a training director for counter-intelligence and member of Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s staff, said they had aimed for but fell short of equity. We presented the bill in 1946 so whatever lump sum payment should begin from that date. Now, it looks like $20 a year, something like they give beggars,” he lamented. Tugado said he will put his $15,000 in a kitty for a new home.Amadeo Urbano, 85, a guerilla in the “Lapham Unit” operating in Central Luzon. “This is our moment,” he enthused I’m already satisfied,” declared Urbano. “Time is of the essence; if we let this issue drag on for, say, another five years, maybe 90 to 95 percent of us will already be dead,” he explained..De Guzman, executive director of the National Alliance for Filipino Veterans Equity (NAFVE).We’ve always preferred full equity…In the short-term we take care of the implementation for them, we make sure this short-term victory is done correctly for them; but part of our long-term agenda is picking up the pieces of the equity agenda,” he averred.

Filipino veterans see justice in stimulus bill by Katie Worth
Examiner Staff Writer 2/22/09
http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/40009737.html   Many of those still living — including Carino — have mixed feelings about the provision passed into law in the stimulus package Alfredo Carino said he plans to accept the funding, even though he felt the payoff did not restore dignity to his service

Belated Pay For Filipino WWII Vets a Bittersweet VictoryNew America Media, News Analysis, Rene P. Ciria-Cruz, 2/18/2009

http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=618dcde99a2fac43aba625df76b5951a&from=rss

“The more pragmatic among us decided it was better to see some benefits for the remaining veterans than to have them die with nothing,” said Macabenta.( Greg) publisher-editor of Filipinas Magazine in San Francisco “A stand-alone veterans equity bill would’ve had absolutely no chance of passage.”

Emil Guillermo, former columnist for AsianWeek, blogs, “In this something-is-better-than nothing world, we leave with what we can.” Guillermo, however, says “it’s not quite the equity we sought

Filipino veterans interviewed by Asian Journal in Los Angeles were happy to receive news of the authorization. “Finally. Many of us have been waiting. Some were resigned to fighting [for the bill], others have already died,” 85-year-old Franco Arcebal told the Filipino-American newspaper.

But Art Garcia of the Justice for Filipino-American Veterans told Asian Journal, “The Rescission Act is not being amended or rescinded, so therefore the inequity still exists.”
Similarly disappointed was Luisa Antonio of the San Francisco Veterans Equity Center, who told the San Francisco Chronicle that she objected to the inclusion of a waiver that anyone who accepts the lump-sum payment surrenders any further claims against the United States. “We need to do something for them, but putting that clause in really killed the hopes of our Filipino World War II vets for the full and true recognition.

my personal response to this question (by Maria Elizabeth Embry):

Please note that whenever similarly situated individuals are not similarly treated, that condition is known as inequity, never equity

According to the USDVA:

Pension is a benefit paid to wartime veterans with limited income, and who are permanently and totally disabled or age 65 or older.

Except for the WW11 members of the Commonwealth Army of the Philippines, Recognized Philippine Guerillas and (New) Philippine Scouts all other honorably discharged members of the Armed Forces of the U.S. are eligible for this particular pension