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ILOILO CITY, Philippines?War veteran Manuel Carnaje, 85, is hoping that the US government will finally approve his application for compensation for services fighting the Japanese occupation forces before he runs out of time.
The US Department of Veteran Affairs (USDVA) said his application under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has been rejected because his name was not found in the military records of the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, Missouri.
"I know that justice will be given to us," Carnaje told the Philippine Daily Inquirer on Wednesday during the opening of the two-day commemoration of the 65th anniversary of the liberation of Panay, Guimaras and Romblon islands from Japanese occupation.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provided for the official recognition of services rendered by Filipino World War II veterans to the US government and the release of a lump-sum payment to eligible veterans.
Defense Undersecretary Ernesto Carolina, Philippine Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO) administrator, who spoke before 200 veterans and their families at the Balantang Memorial Cemetery and National Shrine in Barangay Quintin Salas in Jaro District here, said the USDVA has paid 70 percent of approved applications amounting to $150 million out of $198 million appropriated by the US Congress.
Carolina told the Inquirer that 4,800 veterans each received the lump sum of $9,000 while 4,000 others who have become US citizens received $15,000 each.
But Carolina said 8,000 applications have been disapproved due to the absence of the names of the applicants in the US military records. Another 14,000 applications are still in various stages of processing, according to Carolina.
The US embassy earlier announced that the filing of applications for compensation were only until February 16.
Carolina said applications that have been denied were under appeal and the applicants were required to submit more proof of their military services during the war.
The documentary evidence could include copies of military orders from the United States Armed Forces in the Far East (USAFFE) or the Commonwealth Army and affidavits of recognized guerrillas who had served with the applicants.
"Many of those who have appealed have been approved so we are hoping that applications that were denied will be considered," Carolina said.
Retired Captain Jerome Juarez, vice president of the 6th Military District WWII Veterans Association Inc., said many of those denied were "genuine" guerrillas.
"It would be an injustice if their applications will be eventually denied," 91-year-old Juarez said.
PVAO regional director Janette Faderan said many applicants were rejected because their names could have been misspelled due to clerical errors in the documentation of their identities during the war.
"It was difficult then and many of their names were recorded by ear," Faderan said.
Faderan said some veterans and their families also failed to receive the compensation even if these were approved because the checks for deceased veterans could only be transferred to their surviving spouses but not to their children or other family members.
Carolina said the Philippine government would send an executive-legislative lobby group to the US to appeal for a "kinder interpretation" of the law.
"We will ask the USDVA to allow children or the closest relative to receive the money because the veterans and their families deserve it," he said.
In his speech, Carolina said the yearly commemoration of Victory Day, when Filipino guerrillas and American troops drove away Japanese forces from Panay, Guimaras and Romblon on March 18, 1945, should involve children and the younger generations.
On Friday, veterans and their families will join a civic-military parade along the main streets of the city to the Iloilo City Freedom Grandstand where a program will be held.
