|
Why?
By Romy Monteyro
This long awaited piece of legislation which will allow the Filipino World War II veterans' dependents
who have been waiting for decades for visas to immigrate to the United States with their families is
indeed most welcome!
This Act, still unnumbered, was re-introduced this month
in the Lower House by Congresswoman Mazie Hirono (D-2nd District, Hawaii), one of the staunchest supporters of benefits for
the FilVets.
On March 15, 2009, this writer who is also the Adviser
and Congressional Lobbyist for the Filipino WWII Veterans Federation of San Diego County met with Congressman Bob Filner,
to submit Five Talking Points which would one day lead to more legislations or amendments to existing laws to further benefit
the FilVets and their widows, as well as other US citizens of Filipino descents.
Congressman Bob Filner, Chairman of the House Veterans
Affairs Committee, as the Filipino communities in America
know, was instrumental in the victory recently won by the FilVets which gave them lump sum benefits in the amount of $15,000
for those who are US citizens, and $9,000 to those who have remained Filipino citizens.
It was his HR6897, which was passed in the House that
was used by Senator Daniel Inouye, (D-Hawaii) as the basis of his initiative to authorize the payment of lump sum benefits
to Filipino WWII veterans which he attached as a rider to the Economic Recovery Act which is more popularly known as the Stimulus
Package Law.
In that meeting with Filner were Commander Manny Braga
of the Filipino WWII Veterans Federation of San Diego County, his First Vice-Commander Venancio Lagmay and Dr. Gigi Castillo,
a San Diego Filipino community leader, who all took part in the discussion of the 5 Talking Points Submitted to Congressman
Filner.
One of the Five is a proposal to revive or reintroduce
the Filipino Veterans Family Reunification Act, which was sidetracked back in 2007 when the Immigration Reform Bill was blocked
by the Republicans in Congress, who considered the Bill inadequate in addressing their concerns.
Congressman Filner, true to his promise, worked on the
re-introduction of the stymied Act by co-sponsoring the House Resolution with Congresswoman Hirono. Through Sharon Schultze,
Filner's Legislative Assistant, this writer was informed by telephone of the action taken by Congressman Filner on May 6,
2009.
The enactment into law of this proposed act, while being
beneficial to the family of our gallant Filipino World War Ii veterans, would also benefit the United States in that most,
if not all, of those future immigrants are professionals who after obtaining gainful employment in the US on their arrival
would not only contribute to the economy of this country, but would also enhance to a great extent, the quality of services
in the fields of health care, engineering and other fields of worthwhile endeavor, such as but not limited to accounting and
other much-needed skills.
Unlike the millions of illegal aliens who simply abuse
the social services programs of the State and Federal governments, these Filipino professionals would be important and valuable
asset to many industries in the US, to include even the military.
The Senate counterpart of this Act, as expected, will
be re-introduced by another of the Filipino WWII veterans' champions in Congress, Senator Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii). Senator
Akaka, it will be recalled authored the original Filipino Family Reunification Act in the Senate and even succeeded in making
it a rider to the Senate version of the Immigration Reform Act of 2007 which passed overwhelmingly in the Upper Chamber, only
to be derailed in the House.
This time around, with both Congressman Filner and Senator
Daniel Akaka actively supporting the passage of this Act, it is hope that those veterans' dependents who have been waiting
for decades for visas to immigrate will at last be given the opportunity to do so.
This Act would be unique in the sense that the dependents
of the Filipino WWII veterans would be exempt from any kind of immigration visa quota, and will come in under a special preference
with immediate effect.
For your information, dear readers, the other 4 Talking
Points are as follows:
1) An amendment to authorize the use of Medicare in the
Philippines for the FilVets, their US citizen spouses and all other retired US citizens of Filipino descents who may
wish to return to the old country to live out their retirement there. Given the much lower cost of medical care and medications
in the Philippines, allowing the use of Medicare in the RP would result
in a considerable savings for the United States.
2) An amendment to allow the payment of benefits to FilVets
widows who were left out in the Stimulus Package, such benefits to come from the surplus of the $198 million dollars appropriated
separately by Congress to pay the lump sum payments to the FilVets. Since the money is already there, we expect Congress to
consider this proposal without much difficulty. We proposed that whatever is left of the $198 million dollars be paid to the
widows, irrespective of citizenship or residence, in equal amounts.
3) An amendment to authorize the increase to 100% the
payment of SSI benefits to FilVets and their US citizen spouses who may elect to return to the Philippines, from the current
75%
4) Increase in the annual grant of $500,000 dollars to
the Philippine Veterans Memorial Medical Center, to $1 million dollars, specifically for the purchase of much-needed medicines
for the rapidly aging FilVets in the Philippines.
The $500K the USVA annual gives to the PVMMC is limited for the purchase of new medical equipments.
A comprehensive Feasibility Study designed to inform
the lawmakers of the justifications and beneficial effects of the Five Talking Points, not only to the Filipino WWII veterans
but to the US as well, is now in the works
and is expected to be submitted in time, before the current Congress adjourns. | 
