It's make-or-break for Pinoy vets' bill (tags)
World War II veteran Guillermo Rumingan had a teleconference with other veterans and their supporters and plotted what could be the last chapter of a historic run to push the Filipino Veterans’ Equity Bill. From Hawaii to California to Washington State to Virginia, they weighed their options that seemed to thin with each passing hour. After a triumphant 96-1 Senate vote to pass S-1315, which contained provisions for Filipino veterans’ equity, the bill is now stalled in the House of Representatives. Although the 110th Congress is scheduled to hold sessions until the last week of September, veterans activists are looking at the week beginning August 4 as the last window to realize an over 60-year-old dream. If nothing happens by then, all the historic gains achieved this year will come to naught. They had an appointment with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi last week, but she was not available and only one of her staff members faced the veterans led by Eric Lachica, executive director of the Virginia-based American Coalition of Filipino Veterans. "She wanted 290 sure votes for S-1315," Rumingan told ABS-CBN’s Balitang America.