Echo Park Community Coalition (EPCC)

November 10, 2009

Los Angeles

FULL RECOGNITION IS REAL JUSTICE

By Jerry Esguerra

Los Angeles---On February 18, 1946, the US Congress passed and President Truman signed Public Law 70-301, known as the "Rescission Act of 1946" - affecting close to half a million Filipinos who fought side by side with the Americans in the WAR against Imperial Japan in the Pacific.

These Filipino Veterans who gallantly served America and suffered torture and even death in the hands of its enemy found themselves fighting the longest battle of their lives: 63 years of struggle to be recognized as full Veterans of Foreign War and gain all benefits accorded to such status.

VICTIMS OF A RACIST ACT

The Rescission Act states that the sacrifices of the Filipinos during World War II "shall not be deemed to be or to have been service in the military or national forces of the United States or any component thereof or any law of the United States conferring rights, privileges or benefits."

It was a slapped in the face of the Filipino Nation!

But their experience is not unique nor isolated - the history of the Armed Forces of the United States of America and its government is peppered with discriminatory acts against its colored servants and their communities.

Native Americans, Latinos and other minority veterans came home from fighting for "democracy and freedom" in foreign lands only to find themselves marginalized in a segregated society.

Take for example the "Tuskegee Experiment". While the USA was celebrating the heroic exploits of Black Tuskegee Airmen in WWII War Bond's posters - the young black men of Tuskegee Alabama were being subjected by the US Government in one of most despicable and heinous covert experiment in the annals of modern medical research involving human subjects.

In 1932 the Public Health Service recruited 399 syphilis infected poor and illiterate black men from Macon County, Alabama for the study of long term effect of the disease on the black male population. They were withheld treatment even when penicillin became available in the 40s and dozens of them died and their families devastated. The study ended in 1972 when it was leaked to the public. But the apology by the US and compensation for the victims only came in 1997 after a long militant struggle by the Black community.

Although some components of the Rescission Act of 1946 had been chipped away (citizenship and medical claim issues) through relentless spirited struggle by veterans and their supporters, "the US experiment on how long the patience of a group of Filipino WWII Veterans will last in the face of extreme prejudice" still continues.

RACE AGAINST TIME

The Filipino Veterans Equity Compensation was signed into law by President Barack Obama on Feb. 17, 2009. It appropriated $198 million through American Recovery and Reinvestment Act as direct payments for the surviving veterans.

Many in the community view this as a tepid attempt by the US to silence the voices of the Filipino people clamoring for justice for their heroic veterans.

There is no substitute for real full recognition that will finally bestow the benefits due to our veterans and their families immediately and not piecemeal as we are witnessing right now.

Looking at the numbers the Department of Veterans Affairs are dishing out will clearly illustrates that time is at the essence here.

With 3 veterans dying each day, the original 18,000 intended to receive the lump sum ($15,000 for US citizens and $9,000 for non-citizens) when the law was enacted in February, only 36,000 are remaining as we roll into Veterans Day.

Many in the Filipino community are starting to believe that the delay in the processing of benefits is deliberate and there is an undeclared "war of attrition" against our veterans.

The STRUGGLE must continue until we attain real justice:

A FULL RECOGNITION FOR THE FILIPINO VETERANS!

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Nov. 11- Veterans Day Protest from FACLA to Downtown LA.

Assembly: FACLA Compound

1740 W. Temple St.

Los Angeles, CA 90026

Program- 8:30-9:30 AM

March- 10:00 AM

Rally- 11:00-12:00 AM

The Rescission Act states that the sacrifices of the Filipinos during World War II "shall not be deemed to be or to have been service in the military or national forces of the United States or any component thereof or any law of the United States conferring rights, privileges or benefits."

It was a slapped in the face of the Filipino Nation!

But their experience is not unique nor isolated - the history of the Armed Forces of the United States of America and its government is peppered with discriminatory acts against its colored servants and their communities.