The Philippine Embassy in Washington, D.C. announced that the call for increased benefits for Filipino Veterans in the U.S. and the Philippines is gaining momentum.

As a result of President Arroyo's state visit to the United States, U.S. President George Bush has instructed his Veterans Affairs Secretary to endorse Senate Bill 1213 which calls for new health care benefits to Filipino-American veterans and improvement of medical care for Filipino Veterans in the Philippines. Its counterpart, House Resolution 2357, was passed by the House Veterans Affairs Committee on 26 June. Chances of its enactment into law is growing.

In working towards the goal of full equity for surviving World War II veterans in the Philippines, President Arroyo has proposed to President Bush an increase of US $ 2 million in grant-in-aid assistance for the Philippine Veterans Memorial Medical Center. It is a tough call as it still entails an introduction of a line item budget in the U.S. Appropriations Committee. However, there is hope that through joint cooperation this endeavor would be successful. At this point, there is commitment from all parties to continue working towards achieving significantly more benefits for the veterans in the Philippines.

The Embassy also called a meeting in Washington, D. C. on 23 June with the Embassy’s Office for Veterans Affairs, Veterans Federation of the Philippines, Philippine Veterans Affairs Office, Sons and Daughters of Filipino Veterans and the American Coalition for Filipino Veterans. A consensus was reached that the efforts to redress the Filipino veteran’s plight, both here in the US and in the Philippines, are now proceeding on parallel and complementary tracks with equal attention. END