Filipino Vets Battle for Benefits

Restituto de Dios is a sickly Filipino American World War II veteran who lives in a corner of a rented room in Panorama City.

In this decaying house, de Dios and seven other former guerrillas who fought for the United States say they wait for a Memorial Day that will be something more than a reminder of injustice.

The veterans say President Franklin D. Roosevelt, America’s wartime chief, pledged to give 250,000 Filipino soldiers full benefits for serving with the Allies against Japan, but after the war, the promise went unfulfilled.

Congress granted full citizenship to Filipino veterans living in the United States in 1990, but nearly all of the 14,000 here--dying at the rate of five per day--still seek to redeem what they consider to be Roosevelt’s pledge.

“America is a good country,” said de Dios, 77, with a thick accent. “I appreciate the little that it has done for us. But we sacrificed so much in World War II.”

Five months before the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, Roosevelt called the Philippine Commonwealth Army to serve under the U.S. Armed Forces in the Far East. The Philippines was attacked Dec. 8, 1941, in a lightning strike that left defenders, led by legendary Gen. Douglas MacArthur in disarray.

Though the majority Filipino force and the American garrison held out months longer than the Japanese anticipated, the nation fell in May 1942. Thousands of Filipinos would later join guerrilla outfits and resist the occupation.

“[The guerrillas] eased what would have been a more difficult and drawn-out process [to liberate the Philippines], and in a sense, they were fighting for the U.S.,” said Roger Dingman, a professor of history at USC.

The federal government gives benefits and compensation to a few Filipino veterans--about 950 in the United States and 4,000 in the Philippines--who served in specific units. These men, legally considered “service-connected,” were wounded in battle or were members of the Old Philippine Scouts. All other veterans are not considered part of the U.S. military. The overwhelming majority of the vets who live stateside and in the Philippines receive no pension or access to hospitals that other U.S. veterans do. There are nearly 42,000 veterans in the Philippines seeking benefits from the U.S. government, according to documents from the Department of Veteran Affairs.

For de Dios and his housemates, such benefits would make all the difference, they said. The eight men share rent using money collected from Social Security. The heat inside the house is oppressive and flies circle the bedrooms.

“At night, I cannot sleep because I miss my family in the Philippines so much,” de Dios said.

Medicine bottles abound in the home. The youngest veteran is 71; the eldest, 79. The men call out their conditions like battle scars: arthritis, Parkinson’s, prostate cancer and blood spots.

But the war stories and medals remain a source of pride.

Commander Segundo Calderon was in charge of guerrilla fighters, including three of whom live with him in the house. Calderon still commands the respect of his men. He shares a corner bedroom with his wife. The four remaining men share the crowded living room with their belongings strewn beneath their beds. One of the men was 13 when he joined the guerrilla forces.

“I’m so very lucky because I have my wife,” Calderon said. “I served for the U.S. Army. I deserve full benefits.”

A push to pass the Filipino Veterans Equity Act, which would extend the benefits, failed by nine votes in 1999, said Eric Lachica, executive director of the American Coalition of Filipino Veterans. A hearing is set for July, and supporters plan rallies today in Washington, Los Angeles and San Francisco, Lachica said.

“I think most politicians are sympathetic toward the issue,” said Lachica, the son of a Filipino veteran. “The question is, who is going to pay for it?”

The cost has been estimated at $145 million a year for all Filipino veterans, with $15 million of that going to veterans living in the United States.

Faustino “Peping” Baclig is a 79-year-old survivor of the Bataan Death March and a Japanese prison camp. He is one of the lucky veterans who lives comfortably through the support of his family. The fight for benefits has become a matter of principle for him, he said.

“We were fighting, eating and dying together with the Americans,” the Whittier resident said. “Why are we not recognized? Is it because we are Filipino? Because of our color? We’ve been taken for granted.”

Rep. Bob Filner (D-San Diego), a congressional supporter of the legislation, said there is a sense of urgency to get something done.

“We are losing them [the veterans] every day,” Filner said. “I would like, before they die, to get them the dignity and honor they deserve.”