Filipino American Veterans
Welcome Pres Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Feb 2002
Col. Mariano Aureus of the
Phil. Am.Veterans Org. NJ and
Cmdr.Pacifo Timbol of
the American Legion NY Post
ask Philippine President
Gloria M. Arroyo to intercede
with President Bush on their
bills in Queens NY,
Feb. 2, 2002
Please photo credit:
Eric Lachica
Contact: Eric
LACHICA FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Filipino American Veterans Welcome
President Ramos On Bataan Day
Washington, D.C. - Forty
World War II veterans of the
American Coalition
For Filipino Veterans welcomed Philippine
President Fidel V.
Ramos to Washington, D.C. on April 9,
Bataan Day. Their
leaders also joined Ramos in honoring Rep.
Bob Filner who
received the Philippine Legion of Honor medal.
During the noon
wreath-laying ceremony held at
the Tomb of the
Unknown Soldier at the Arlington National
Cemetery, the
elderly veterans patiently stood at attention
under the cold
drizzling rain as Ramos saluted the tomb. With
full military
honors, Ramos was also greeted by a 21-gun
salute and by the
playing of the national anthems of the U.S.
and the Philippines
by the U.S. Army Band.
A half-hour later,
the elderly veterans joined
Ramos at
columbarium of Filipino American WW II veteran
GALO OCAMPO, a
well-known artist and painter buried at the
prestigious
cemetery. Ocampo's widow and children thanked
Ramos for the
belated recognition of Ocampo's military service.
The president then
posed for photos with the veterans with
their thumbs-up
pose.
"We veterans
are indeed honored to be on these
hallowed grounds.
On this 56th anniversary of the Fall of
Bataan, we pray
President Ramos can help convince President
Clinton to truly
recognize our living veterans by supporting our
Equity bill,"
Patrick Ganio, Sr., a 77-year-old veteran who
received a Purple
Heart in the battle of Bataan, and the
president of the
Washington D.C.-based coalition, said.
At 5:00 P.M., ten
selected veteran leaders joined
Ramos at the Blair
Guest House across from the White House.
Ramos honored Rep.
Filner with a brief ceremony and a
conferment of the
Legion of Honor medal with the rank of
commander.
Ramos awarded the
medal to Filner for his
"dedicated
service to Filipino veterans. . . to advance (their)
rights as veterans.
. . (and) for being a true friend of the
Filipino
people." The select audience applauded.
Filner replied,
"I am humbled by this award. . .
this recommits me
to their struggle to get justice, (and) to get
the recognition
they deserve." His wife, Jane, joined Ramos
and the veterans in
congratulating the 55-year-old former
history professor
from San Diego.
Mariano Aureus, Ned
Caspe and Alfred Diaz
represented the
Philippine American Veterans Organization of
New Jersey and New
York. Aureus had an earlier brief
conversation with
Ramos who told him, "Continue the
lobbying. You will
win."
A dozen veterans
from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
were led by Frank
Manosca of the American Legion (Alejo
Santos Post) and Tony
Rivera of the Veterans of Foreign Wars
(Tomas Claudio
Post), accompanied by Purita Acosta of the
VFW auxilliary.
Chicago veterans
were represented by a defender
at Bataan, Phil
Cruz of the Filipino American Veterans of
Illinois.
Washington vets were led by Guillermo Rumingan,
Conrado Damasco,
Rudy Panaglima, Ray Cabacar and Amadeo
Urbano.
A luncheon for the
veterans was hosted by Gen.
Tagumpay Nanadiego
(ret.) of the Veterans' Affair Office and
Ambassador Raul
Rabe at the Philippine Embassy.
Pat Ganio, the
president of ACFV, anticipates that
the Coalition's May
5 - 7 Action Conference in Washington,
D.C. will mobilize
more than 150 veterans and supporters to
induce the House
Veterans' Affairs Committee to have
hearings. In March,
the committee chairman, Rep. Bob Stump,
had reluctantly
agreed to a hearing on the Equity bill, H.R.836.
However, Stump has
not announced a date.
"After waiting
52 years, we will be heard.
Moreover, we will
have to convince Clinton that we are
American veterans
too," Ganio stated. ACFV veterans are
expected to stage
dramatic actions to urge President Clinton to
set aside $120
Million budget from an estimated $50 BILLION
tax revenue surplus
to fund the Equity bill in 1999. He called
on supporters to
phone the Coalition: 202 246-1998 to make
reservations and to
request conference details.
*Subject: STUMP TO
HOLD HEARINGS ON FILIPINO VETERANS EQUITY BILL
FILIPINO WORLD WAR
II VETERANS TO GET A HEARING
NaFFAA welcomes
yesterday's announcement by Rep. Bob Stump that he
intends to hold
hearings soon on issues pertaining to Filipino Veterans.
Until this time,
the chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee has
been non-committal
about repeated demands from the veterans community to
hold hearings on
the Equity Bill currently pending before his committee.
With this
breakthrough, NaFFAA Executive Director Jon Melegrito is
appealing to all
the veterans groups to close ranks and forge a common
front. "This
is a critical juncture in a long hard-fought campaign by
our veterans. For
their sake, we must make effective use of this
opening to publicly
show we're all united in fighting for justice and
equity for all our
veterans," Melegrito said.
NaFFAA has proposed
as a final solution a lump sum payment of
$20,000 for each of
the surviving 70,000 veterans. This compromise idea
originated with the
veterans of Equity Village based in Los Angeles. A
random survey of
rank and file veterans, including those in the
Philippines,
indicates broad support for this proposal. "The reason for
that, basically, is
it does not impose US citizenship as a condition,
thereby ensuring a
compromise that guarantees equity for all," Melegrito
said.
"Moreover, it's something that could feasibly be provided for
now, considering
that our veterans are dying at the rate of 5 a day."
"Much of the
credit goes to our veterans groups for taking up the
cudgels when no one
else was helping them," Melegrito added. "Our
collective efforts
in bringing pressure to bear on Washington's decision
makers are
beginning to pay off. But now that victory
is within our
grasp, it is critical that we set aside personal differences
so as not to weaken
the US Government's apparent resolve to remedy this
injustice."
NaFFAA was tasked
at the August 1997 Empowerment Conference to
rally the Filipino
American community in pressing passage for the Equity
bill. In response,
local community leaders mobilized their networks to
pressure their
district representatives. Among those who helped are
members of the
United Methodist Church in Kensington, MD. who lobbied
Rep. Connie Morella
(R-MD). There were several other instances of broad
support from
churches, labor, civic organizations, and civil rights groups
from all over the
country. It also helped that national media
organizations, like
the Washington Post, called on Washington policy
makers to fulfill
America's pledge to these veterans.