{"article":{"id":219149,"heading":"AN OPEN LETTER TO SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI","author":"Echo Park Communtiy Coalition","created":"2008-07-30 12:01:13","modified":"2008-07-30 12:01:13","last_modified":"Wed, 30 Jul 2008 20:01:13","article":"

AN OPEN LETTER TO SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI

Speaker Nancy Pelosi

District Office,

450 Golden Gate Ave 14th Floor

San Francisco, CA

94102

July 25, 2008

Dear Ms. Speaker,

We are writing to you on the matter of the pending House version of SB 1315 pending at the House of Representatives.

We hold you, as the Speaker and the leader of the Democratic Party, responsible for not passing the bill in the house You have the responsibility to answer why the bill has not been discussed or have not been put into vote despite several promises.

Time is of the essence for these American veterans who were victims of the unjust Recession Act that was passed on February 18th, 1946. Of the 250,000 Filipino soldiers who served under the American Flag during World War II, only 18,000 are still alive with more veterans dying everyday.



For example, in the county of Los Angeles where majority of the Filipino veterans resides, 126 members of the United Filipino American Veterans (UFAV) have died up to October 2007. Only 54 members are still living, more than 12 of them are seriously sick. Yet many of these same Veterans have vowed to continue this 63-year-old fight until their dying breath.



You can help end this injustice or like your predecessors continue to ignore this issue hoping it will go away. If the issue is money, research has found that it will only cost our government as much as half of what we spend on Iraq per day to give these American veterans their benefits.

Time and excuses are running out. We demand that your office and all the members of the House of Representatives to act now and house version of S.B. 1315 now! 







Sincerely yours,



Faustino Baclig,Commander

Pilipino American Veterans Association (PAVA)

ACFV-Western Region

Arturo Garcia, Coordinator

Justice For Filipino American Veterans (JFAV)

Eugenio Mondok Sr. Commander.

United Filipino Ameircan veterans (UFAV)

Franco Arcebal, Vice President for Membership,

American Coalition for Filipino Veterans (ACFV)

Jack Vergara, Commander,

Society of Guerillas and Scouts (SGS)

Juan dela Torre. VIce Commander

United Filipino American Veterans (UFAV)

Leonides Alcantara, Commander

SGS-ACFV

Lourdes Astilla,Commander

Veterans Center Association

Nick Gadia, Vice Commander

Society of Guerilla and Scouts

Jerry Esguerra

PSL-Los Angeles

Paulo Espiritu

Filipino American For Immigration Reforms (FAIR)

Max Gutierrez

Los Angeles Alliance for New Economy (LAANE)

Christine Araquel

KMB-Pro People Youth

Allan Nailat

Long Beach-PAC

Mike Nailat

JFAV-LA

Corazon Esguerra

ANSWER-LA

Elaine Dolalas

FAIR

Devin Whyham

UNITE-HERE Local 11

Jay Valencia, President

Circulo Pampangueno of Southern California

Mario Santos, National Coordinator

AJLPP-USA

Ago Martinez

AJLPP-San Francisco

Pons De Leon

First Quarter Storm Network (FQSN)





<\/p>\n","contact":"jfav_causa@yahoo.com","link":"","address":"337 Glendale Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90026","phone":"213-241-0906","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","summary":"Dear Ms. Speaker,\r\n\r\nWe are writing to you on the matter of the pending House version of SB 1315 pending at the House of Representatives.\r\n\r\nWe hold you, as the Speaker and the leader of the Democratic Party, responsible for not passing the bill in the house You have the responsibility to answer why the bill has not been discussed or have not been put into vote despite several promises.\r\n\r\nTime is of the essence for these American veterans who were victims of the unjust Recession Act that was passed on February 18th, 1946. Of the 250,000 Filipino soldiers who served under the American Flag during World War II, only 18,000 are still alive with more veterans dying everyday.\r\n ","numcomment":0,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/2008\/07\/dscf2163.jpgurapdk.jpg","filesize":"1.2 mebibytes","article_url":"\/news\/2008\/07\/219149.php","image":{"original":"\/uploads\/2008\/07\/dscf2163.jpgurapdk.jpg","small":"\/uploads\/2008\/07\/dscf2163.jpgurapdk.jpgthumb.jpg","medium":"\/uploads\/2008\/07\/dscf2163.jpgurapdk.jpgmid.jpg"}},"attachments":[],"comments":[]}