Filipino veterans see justice in stimulus bill
By: Katie Worth
Examiner Staff Writer
February 22, 2009
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| Fight for rights: Veterans War Memorial Commissioner Rudy Acercion joins other veterans at a candlelight march on Feb. 18 to commemorate the 63rd anniversary of the Rescission Act. (Mike Koozmin/Special to The Examiner) |
REDWOOD CITY — Alfredo Carino looked young for his nearly 18 years, so when he joined the U.S. Army on New Years Day of 1943, he was picked out to be a spy.
Each day, he’d take eggs, fruit and vegetables to the garrison the Japanese military had recently established in his town, a seaside province of the Philippines, and sell them to soldiers, all the while carefully observing how much equipment was flowing through the garrison, how many soldiers, how many bodies. Later, he was armed with a gun and fought those Japanese soldiers, side by side with American troops.
Carino said he and his comrades “fought hard for the U.S. Army” and that he was proud of his service, which is why years later, when he learned the U.S. Congress had passed an act denying veterans’ benefits to the Filipinos who had fought for the U.S. Army during World War II, he was shocked.
“I just felt so,” said Carino, pausing as he struggled to find the right word, “disgusted.”
Last week, some of that injustice felt so deeply by Carino — now a Redwood City resident — on behalf of the 450,000 Filipinos who had fought in that war was finally acknowledged — at least in part — by the federal government.
The economic stimulus package signed by President Barack Obama on Tuesday included a program to provide every Filipino who fought for the U.S. during World War II with a lump-sum grant, in exchange for those veterans dropping any further pursuit of compensation or benefits.
Many of those still living — including Carino — have mixed feelings about the provision passed into law in the stimulus package. As the law is written, Filipinos living in the U.S. will receive a payoff of $15,000, while veterans in the Philippines will receive $9,000. The families of the soldiers that have already died will receive nothing.
Loreto Dimaandal, whose father was a World War II veteran, said she promised her father before he died that she’d keep fighting for the money that he felt should go to his widow. She said she saw the deal as a partial victory.
The $15,000 is just over one year’s pension for service in the U.S. Army; and the provision included a stipulation that those that accept the lump sum can no longer pursue further benefits from the government.
Carino said he plans to accept the funding, even though he felt the payoff did not restore dignity to his service.
