WASHINGTON — They are sometimes called the invisible veterans -- soldiers who defied death fighting for the United States, only to be denied U.S. benefits at war's end.
Now in their 80s, these Filipino veterans, effectively drafted in World War II to fight alongside the U.S. military against Japan, are dying, about 10 a day, while they still hope to win veterans benefits for their service. Their number has dwindled to about 6,000 in the United States and 12,000 in the Philippines.
For 17 years, they have asked Washington for benefits. Now, for the first time, a bill to grant full pension payments to Filipino veterans has cleared the House and Senate veterans affairs committees, raising hopes it could pass this year.
"The stars are in alignment, and we've come so far already," said Ben de Guzman, campaign director for the National Alliance for Filipino Veterans Equity. "But the window of opportunity is closing."
Time is running out for veterans like Peping Baclig, 85, a U.S. citizen and community activist in Los Angeles, who was captured by the Japanese and survived the Bataan Death March in 1942.
The bill has drawn opposition from some veterans groups, which say the plan would fund the Filipino benefits -- which would cost $500 million to $900 million over the next 10 years -- by taking money from a program for disabled veterans whose disabilities are not combat-related. And some opponents of the bill argue that it is overly generous to veterans based in the Philippines, where a lower standard of living would elevate their health and death benefits. They also note that the United States is no longer responsible for the Philippines, which was granted independence in 1946.
"While these Filipino troops may have fought bravely, side-by-side, with American soldiers, they should be looking to the Philippines for veterans benefits," Rep. Michael R. Turner (R-Ohio) wrote in a column for the Times-Gazette of Hillsboro, Ohio. "They fought in the Pacific theater, presumably on behalf of their native country. . . . The United States has obligations to American veterans. We should not be held responsible for the benefits of the Philippines."
But many Filipino veterans object to being characterized as foreigners. They point out that they served under the American flag, and many were granted U.S. citizenship after the war.
"America is our mother country," Baclig said. "She taught us about democracy and then denied the very principle for which we fought. We fought for the American flag."
