Veterans remember Bataan heroes

April 18, 2008  --  Got something to say?
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By Rodney J. Jaleco
WASHINGTON D.C. They marched, walked – for some, their wheelchairs pushed – and sang “Old Soldiers Never Die” to draw attention to the plight of aging Filipino veterans 66 years after the Fall of Bataan.

The Embassy hosted two of the four major activities organized to remember one of World War II’s epic battles and push for passage of the Filipino veterans equity bill, stranded by partisan politicking on Capitol Hill.

It was a full, eventful day from start to finish. The commemoration activities began with a flag-raising ceremony at the Philippine Embassy, moved to Capitol Hill and capped by a poignant sunset ceremony – World War II survivors offering a wreath of white and yellow flowers to fallen heroes and comrades at the World War II Memorial.

But Embassy officials had to call in the Secret Service during the evening leg of the day-long program after John Swallow, the man who allegedly tried to burn down the Philippine Embassy two years ago managed to slip in with the veterans and guests.

Embassy officials asked Swallow to leave the Romulo Hall where the program was about to be held, which he did willingly, still carrying a plateful of pancit and lumpia that were served in the reception. The Secret Service men were waiting outside. He was frisked and made to acknowledge a warning he risked arrest the next time.

The commemoration activities drew people from all over the U.S. Fairlawn, New Jersey councilman Karl Norggard accepted the Philippine Liberation Medal in behalf of Nicholas Vanore of the U.S. Navy. Olive Rosen of Falls Church, Virginia marched with the veterans at the World War II Memorial. Her late husband Melvin was a colonel in the U.S. Army who helped establish the Philippine Scouts under Gen. Douglas MacArthur. Col. Rosen survived the Death March and forced to do slave labor in Korea, where he was eventually found six months after World War II officially ended.

But obviously, the day’s thrust was towards convincing American lawmakers to pass S-1315, an omnibus veterans benefits bill that includes Filipino veterans equity. The bill has been stuck on the Senate since last year when it hurdled the Senate veterans affairs committee.

Republican Sen. Larry Craig, former chairman of the Senate veterans panel, has offered a compromise bill that would grant expanded benefits only for Filipino veterans currently living in the U.S.

Veterans advocates scoffed at the compromise. “This is called the equity bill precisely because we seek to right an injustice. Cutting out our veterans in the Philippines will defeat the very purpose of an equity bill,” explained Jon Melegrito, communications director of the National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA).
The veterans activists are banking heavily on Democratic supporters, but they acknowledge they will also have to win more Republicans if the bill is to pass. So far, only Republican Ted Stevens has signed up as co-sponsor of the equity bill.

“The signs that we’ve gotten,” Ben de Guzman of the National Association for Filipino Veterans Equity (NAFVE) tells ABS-CBN’s Balitang America, “are cautiously optimistic.”
Eric Lachica of the American Coalition of Filipino Veterans (ACFV) also noted that the Republicans appear to be “very disciplined” in their opposition of the bill.

On Capitol Hill, Lachica led a half-dozen veterans inside a chamber where the Senate veterans committee was conducting a hearing on the Veterans Administration. The hearing was being presided over by Sen. Daniel Akaka, one of the equity bill’s most ardent supporters. After the hearing, the Hawaii lawmaker approached the veterans, including 92-year-old former US Army Capt. Jeffrey Dimen, a Purple Heart Medal awardee and Death March survivor.

Lachica asked Akaka if a compromise was possible. “Well, that’s what its going to take,” the latter replied. Although he’s been talking Sen. Richard Burr, the senior Republican in the veterans panel, Akaka admits they still don’t have the numbers to carry the equity bill.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has assured the veterans he would put S-1315 on the floor if they get 60 votes. By Akaka’s reckoning, they’re still eight votes short.
In that hypothetical equation, it’s assumed that all Democratic senators would vote for the bill. Therefore, the shortfall will have to be filled from the Republican side.

The Philippines and the Fil-Am community here are mobilizing all their resources to push the equity bill forward. Charges d’affaires Carlos Sorreta reiterated President Arroyo’s commitment to see the equity bill through.
She recently signed an amendment to a veterans bill that effectively removed a key obstacle to bipartisan support for the equity bill. In hearings last year, some lawmakers balked at a Philippine law that would cut off a P5,000 pension provided by the Philippine government if the U.S. enacts the equity bill.

Senator Richard Gordon worked for the amendments after meeting with U.S. lawmakers during a visit here last June.

Both presidential aspirants Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have endorsed the equity bill. “It is my honor to salute these brave Filipino men and women who gallantly gave their lives for the freedom that citizens of both the Philippines and the United States now enjoy,” Clinton said in a statement.

So the challenge remains how to get the bill past Capitol Hill. Last December, the Philippines contracted the help of former Ambassador Stuart Eizenstat of the influential Covington & Burling law firm.

Eizenstat attended the Bataan Day commemoration activities at the Philippine Embassy and held a closed-door meeting with embassy officials and House veterans panel chair Bob Filner, also a guest at the embassy function.


Posted by News Team | Filed Under Around DC, US News 

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