WASHINGTON - The House Committee on Veterans Affairs July 17 voted to raise the proposed pension for Filipino veterans of World War II living in the Philippines to $500 a month and $900 to those who have become naturalized US citizens.

The counterpart bill approved by the Senate committee last month provided only $300 for veterans who are single, $375 for married veterans and $200 for widows.

The House committee, chaired by Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA), voted along party lines - 15 Democrats to 12 Republicans -to approve the proposed pension in a markup hearing for House Resolution 760, which seeks to amend title 38 of the United States Code to consider military service for the then government of the Commonwealth of the Philippines to have been active service for the US for purposes of VA benefits.

Both House and Senate committee bills providing non-combat-related disability pensions to Filipino veterans will have to be approved by the full Senate and the House of Representatives and could still be torpedoed at the last minute over the issue of money. (See another story inside.)

Supporters of the Filipino veterans equity bill hailed the House committee’s action. The Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) thanked the members of the committee and said their action will move Congress closer to fulfilling a broken promise of full veterans’ benefits that the U.S. made to approximately 250,000 Filipino soldiers who fought under the American flag during World War II.

Of the troops from 66 countries recognized for their military service under U.S. command, the Filipino soldiers are the only group yet to be fully recognized, CAPAC chair Rep Mike Honda (D-CA) said. “Today’s vote is an important step toward keeping our promise and honoring the contributions of the Filipino veterans to our nation,” Honda said.

Alma Q. Kern, chair of the National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA), urged all Filipino Americans to unite and join in the campaign in the House and Senate “to win full equity for our veterans,” she said.

The National Alliance for Filipino Veterans Equity (NAFVE) led by Lillian Galledo thanked “the champions of this bill who have worked tirelessly to ensure that Filipino veterans are treated as equals of their U.S. counterparts.”

NAFVE said it was joining NAFFAA, National Network for Veterans Equity (NNVE), Veterans Federation of the Philippines, National Council of Asian Pacific Americans, Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA), Japanese Americans Citizens League (JACL), Asian American Justice Center, American Legion, Vietnam Veterans of America, Veterans of Foreign Wars and other veterans’ organizations and advocates in urging members of Congress to continue their support for the passage of the equity legislation.

But the problem of funding may prove to be tough to accept by some members of Congress. The Senate version of the bill is estimated to cost $300 million over a 10-year period. The bill approved by House panel to put Filipino veterans at par with their American comrades is expected to cost $110 million for the first year. Official records show there are 18,155 Filipino veterans still alive out of 260,143 inscribed in the US Army roster immediately after the war. About 12,000 of them live in the Philippines and the rest reside in the US. The Rescission Act of 1946 stripped Filipino soldiers drafted into US military service in the Philippines of their US veterans’ status.

While the committee was debating the pensions bill, VA Secretary Jim Nicholson abruptly announced his resignation effective no later than Oct. 1 after months of battling criticism over the shoddy treatment of veterans injured in the Iraq war.

Last April, the American Coalition for Filipino Veterans (ACFV) called on Nicholson to resign for allegedly mismanaging his department and opposing full equity for Filipino World War II veterans. Nicholson has been at the center of a storm over the awarding in 2006 of more than $3.8 million in bonuses to senior VA officials at a time of serious budget shortfall, a backlog of disability cases and a staffing shortage in his department.

With a resolution in sight on the pensions issue, the jockeying for credit or assignment of blame for failure to get the veterans top dollar has began among some Filipino community leaders, with charges and countercharges being hurled at each other.

NAFVE said H.R 760, as approved by the House committee, contains key provisions that directly affect Filipino World War II veterans, which are as follow:

- Restores full veterans’ status to Filipino veterans of World War II, which was taken away under the Rescission Acts of 1946. This ends a long-standing injustice, and fulfills our nation’s promises to those who served. (Same as Senate bill)

- Permits Filipino veterans of World War II who have disabilities due to their military service to receive compensation at the same rate as other U.S. veterans, regardless of where they live. (Amendment from Senate bill)

- Permits those eligible for Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) to receive those benefits at the same rate as other U.S. veterans, regardless of where they live. (Amendment from Senate bill)

- Permits Filipino veterans of World War II and survivors residing in the United States to receive pensions and death pensions paid at the same rate and under the same conditions as U.S. veterans. (Same as Senate bill) - Permits non-U.S. citizen Filipino veterans of World War II residing outside of the United States to be eligible for a pension and death pension paid at a flat rate. (Amendment from Senate bill)

- If an individual is receiving Social Security overseas, he or she is not eligible for the above-mentioned program. Additionally, an individual may not receive benefits under this chapter if receipt of such benefits would reduce monetary benefits from a foreign government.