Pilipino WWII veterans in the Philippines to get $90M a year- Speaker De Venecia (tags)
Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. yesterday announced that the United States House of Representatives, headed by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, has assured that a bill that would provide $90 million a year to Filipino World War II veterans is being prioritized in Capitol Hill. De Venecia said the bill, Filipino Veterans Equity Bill, may be scheduled for a floor vote following its approval last July in a markup hearing by the US House of Representatives veterans affairs committee headed by by Bob Filner. The bill was reported out by the Congressional Budget Office for Budget Estimates last September. The Speaker quoted Pelosi as telling him during a telephone conversation in California, that they “will try to organize a financial package” for Filipino war veterans.
Filipino World War II Veterans dwindling in US Army roster (tags)
Only 18,155 Filipino World War II veterans are still alive out of 260,143 veterans listed in the US Army roster immediately after the war, Philippine Ambassador to the United States Willy Gaa said. He said this “accurate count of surviving Filipino World War II veterans” came from the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO) which maintains a list of survivors, and the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) which has a roster of Filipino WWII veterans.