Filipino Veterans Plan Caravan to Washington to Press for Benefits

An aging group of Filipino war veterans waging an ongoing sit-in in Los Angeles to win World War II military service benefits is gaining congressional support and now plans a cross-country caravan to Washington.

Since hundreds of veterans first planted themselves in mid-June in MacArthur Park, a site named after their former commander, the national movement to win financial compensation has attracted the support of 90 more members of Congress. The Filipino vets hope that their caravan will strengthen their bonds with mainstream veterans organizations.

“This is an American issue,” said Joel Bander, an attorney who is coordinating the Los Angeles efforts. “There’s obviously still anti-immigrant sentiment in America. But it must be understood that these were U.S. soldiers fighting under a U.S. general defending U.S. territory.”

Saturday marked the 56th anniversary of the day President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the U.S. Army Forces in the Far East to prepare the United States for war.

Shortly after that day in 1941, thousands of Filipinos, having been promised full GI benefits, volunteered and were drafted into the U.S. Army.

However, in 1946, Congress passed the Rescission Act, essentially reneging on the nation’s promise to the veterans.

In past years, so-called “equity bills” have been proposed to restore those benefits but have never gained enough support for a congressional hearing. Detractors say it would cost too much, estimating that the tab for 75,000 surviving Filipino veterans--including 26,000 who live in the United States--could run about $1 billion.

But supporters, who project the cost of benefits at half that high, don’t think the issue can be evaluated monetarily.

“This should be looked at from a morality aspect,” said Rene Junia, a Filipino American activist. “The United States, being the great country it is, has to keep its word.”

Junia estimated that the support of 80 more members of Congress is needed to force a hearing on the proposal.

Saturday, about 200 elderly Filipino Americans, including survivors of some of the bloodiest battles in the Pacific theater, gathered at what they now call “Equity Village” in MacArthur Park to implore America to give them their due.

Under a rickety duct-taped framework of lead pipes and blue tarps, Junia introduced speakers and explained the details of the “Equity Caravan.”

The first stop will be Phoenix, home of Republican Rep. Bob Stump, chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee and, in Junia’s mind, a major stumbling block in the passage of the bill.

With the support of the American Legion, the veterans hope to set up another Equity Village in Phoenix before heading to Washington.

In addition to Phoenix, organizers plan to set up five more Equity Villages between their departure from Los Angeles on Aug. 24 and their scheduled arrival Sept. 9 at the Capitol. But their plans are partially contingent upon the success of a telethon scheduled for Aug. 16 on a local cable channel.

The grass-roots effort in Los Angeles gained substantial public attention in June when one veteran, Angel de la Cruz, 72, launched a 15-day hunger strike that ended when he was hospitalized for dehydration. He has recovered.

In Washington on Saturday, about 300 Filipino Americans marched outside the White House to plead for benefits. Fifteen demonstrators--including the co-author of the equity bill, Rep. Bob Filner (D-San Diego)--were arrested after they symbolically chained themselves to the White House fence. Most of those taken away by police were elderly veterans.

“Old soldiers never die, they just fade away,” wives, children, other relatives and supporters sang, echoing MacArthur’s famous farewell address to Congress as the demonstrators were placed in a paddy wagon.

They faced charges of disobeying a police order against anyone symbolically chaining themselves to the White House fence.

A month ago, Mayor Richard Riordan visited the Los Angeles village, calling the veterans “some of the bravest soldiers in the history of the world.”

And a week later, Filner spent the night with the veterans in the open air of the crime-ridden park.

On Saturday, Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Mission Hills) spoke to the delighted crowd.

Berman said two of the greatest injustices committed by the United States during the war were the internment of Japanese Americans and its treatment of the Filipino veterans.

“We’ve dealt with one [by approving reparations] and now we’ve got to deal with the other,” said Berman. “This is a blemish, and it undercuts our credibility.”