JDV hit for raising false hopes of vets

January 22, 2008  --  Got something to say?
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WASHINGTON D.C. Filipino veterans groups in the United States have criticized Speaker Jose de Venecia for raising false hopes over the Filipino Veterans Equity Bill pending in the US Congress.

De Venecia announced in Manila that US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had assured him that she will give priority to the bill for floor debate this month. He said that she told him in a phone conversation Jan. 6 that she will try to organize a financial package to fund the equity bill.

Groups lobbying for the approval of the bill said De Venecias claim was mere grandstanding by a trapo politician who had never supported the veterans in the past. The Justice For Filipino American Veterans (JFAV) in the West Coast said Pelosi did nothing to get the equity bill passed last year.

How can De Venecia assure us she will move this bill this year? Is De Venecia doing this it only for paguapo effect,” JFAV Coordinator Arturo P. Garcia asked.

In DC, supporters of the equity bill have asked the Philippine government to hire a strong lobby group to help move the bill in the House and Senate.

The American Coalition of Filipino Veterans and its affiliated groups all over the United States have written a letter to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo asking why the Philippines did not include the veterans bills pending in Congress in the task given to the lobby group Convington & Burling LLP which is being hired by the government.

The proposed written agreement with Covington firm does not include the pending Equity bills nor does it mention the Filipino veterans issue as a Philippine Government priority, ACFV said.
It also expressed concern that Amb. Stuart Eizenstat of Covington might not be able to obtain the support of the Republicans in Congress because he is closely identified with the Democrats. ACFV said it might even impede or jeopardize the campaign for the passage of the equity bill.

ACFV said it met recently with Ambassador Willy C. Gaa and urged him to complement Covington with a Republican lobby firm to reaffirm the Philippines bipartisan relationship with Congress.
MANILA Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. is trying to raise false hope that the Filipino Veterans Equity bill will be debated in the US House this month.

De Venecia said Jan. 6 that Speaker Nancy Pelosi, his US counterpart, had assured him that the US House of Representatives would give the highest political priority to the Filipino Veterans Equity Bill.

The proposed measure could provide up to $90 million a year to some 18,000 surviving Filipino World War II veterans.

De Venecia, in a statement, said the House Veterans Affairs Committee chaired by Rep. Bob Filner could schedule the bill for a floor vote. The bill was approved in a markup hearing in July.
In their telephone conversation, De Venecia said Pelosi told him that he will try to organize a financial package for HR 760 or the veterans bill.

He added that the same assurances for a floor vote was given by the Gilman Group, a lobby group headed by former Rep. Ben Gilman, the original Republican advocate of the Filipino Veterans Equity Bill in 1995.

President George W. Bush already assured President Macapagal-Arroyo that he would sign the bill into law once the US Congress approves it.

De Venecia extended an official invitation to Pelosi to visit the Philippines this year to mark the 100 years of the first Philippine Assembly, the US-sponsored legislature elected in 1907 that became the forerunner of the Philippine House of Representatives.

De Venecia said Pelosi, the first woman Speaker of the United States, will be asked to address the House of Representatives.

As of 2007, about 18,155 surviving Filipino veterans have not received any kind of benefits from the US government.

The Office of the Veterans Affairs at the Philippine Embassy in Washington, in a report, described the veterans as in their mid-80s with very poor access to healthcare and dying at the rate of 10 percent. By 2015, all the veterans would have passed away, it said.

About 4,000 more Filipino veterans are based in the US and given service-connected medical and burial benefits.

Under HR 760, their benefits include $700 a month for married veterans, $500 a month for single veterans, $300 a month for widows of veterans and $142 a month in medical allowance for all.
De Venecia thanked the Head of the Veterans Office, retired Maj. Gen. Delfin Lorenzana for their unrelenting efforts to get the bill approved by the US Congress.

We have attached a major importance to this bill, de Venecia said, as he also thanked the Philippine Ambassador to Washington Willy Gaa, consul general Cecille Rebong in New York, consul general Jun Paynor in San Francisco and Philippine Ambassador to the United Nations Hilario Davide.

A co-sponsor of the bill, Rep. Darrel Issa (Republican-California), was quoted as saying he believes that Filner could win a floor vote.

Congressional staffers also said the bill could easily pass a floor vote if the Speaker supports it.”
Filner and another co-sponsor, Rep. Mike Honda, said that the funding would not be a problem.
In the US Senate, Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii), chair of the veterans committee, is expected to try again to bring the bill to the floor for debate. Last month, Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) blocked it saying it was too expensive and controversial enough to merit considerable debate.

Craig though recognized the Filipino veterans service in the Pacific war, saying victory in the Pacific would not have been assured without that help.”

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