The time for change is now: The Inter-Agency Working Group for Veterans

As the United States presidential campaign was heating up,  the Filipino American community received news that the White House was going to honor Filipino World War II veterans.  No new benefits were announced. But a federal  Interagency Working Group was created on Oct. 17, 2012, to address the issue of Filipino veterans denied applications. How will this new development impact the thousands of veterans who were unjustly denied their claims?

A few months after being elected into office in 2009, President Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that

included a provision creating the Filipino Veterans Equity Compensation Fund (FVEC) for Filipino  veterans.  This fund allowed veterans who are US citizens to receive a one-time payment of $15,000 and non-US citizens a one-time payment of $9,000. This compensation was granted in recognition of the extraordinary contributions made by the Filipino veterans. From 2009 to the present, 18,000 claims were approved but there were several thousands that were denied.

Incomplete Missouri list

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in collaboration with the Department of Defense was tasked with determining eligibility for the FVEC. The reason given for denials of applications was that the names of the veterans were not on the “Missouri List.”

The National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) is home to the Revised Reconstructed Guerrilla Roster (RRGR), also known as the “Missouri List,” an official database of all personnel who served in the armed forces in the 20th century. The records are housed in St. Louis, Missouri.  Many Filipino veterans who served in World War II are on this list.  But one major problem is that the Missouri List is incomplete.  On July 12, 1973, a disastrous fire at NPRC destroyed approximately 16-18 million Official Military Personnel Files.  Of those destroyed, 80 percent were Army personnel who were discharged from Nov. 1, 1912, to Jan. 1, 1960.  There were no duplicate copies of the records that were destroyed, nor were there microfilms created.  There were no indexes prior to the fire. In addition, millions of documents had been lent to the Department of Veterans Affairs before the fire occurred.  Therefore, a complete listing is no longer available.  Nevertheless, the Department of Veterans Affairs continues to make the Missouri List a basis for the grant or denial of FVEC claims.

Secondary evidence

In the early 1990s, the Legacy Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) initially relied solely on the Missouri List in adjudicating thousands of applications for naturalization of Filipino World War II veterans.

But after two federal lawsuits, the legacy INS was ordered to accept proof of military service with documents from the executive department under which they served, including Philippine government records.

But even after several appeals to get the VA to accept other forms of proof of military service, VA stood its ground. The Missouri List remained the sole source of determining eligibility.

A federal lawsuit was filed by veterans with denied claims in 2010 against the VA. This case is still pending with the Northern District Court of California (De Fernandez et al. v. Department of Veterans Affairs) questioning the constitutionality of the process established to adjudicate claims for FVEC.

Honoring the veterans

The White House Initiative on Asian American and Pacific Islanders, through its cochair Chris Lu announced the creation of the Interagency Working Group comprised of the officials of the Department of Veterans of Affairs, Department of Defense and the National Archives and Record Administration.  The collaborative efforts of young

Filipino Americans together with other Asian groups worked hard to get this far. But, there is only one task identified for the Interagency Working Group, that is, to analyze the “process faced by Filipino veterans in demonstrating eligibility for compensation in order to ensure that all applications receive thorough and fair review.”

We remain grateful to President Obama and for the Democratic leadership of Senator Inouye, Senator Akaka, Secretary Mineta and Representatives Honda and Filner, among others, for championing the veterans’ cause. It is the Democratic Party leaders led by the incumbent president that initiated the FVEC and now  created the Interagency Working Group. But they have to be reminded that Filipino World War II veterans who have been denied claims and deprived of their just recognition are dying each day. After three years, the FVEC process needs no further analysis or review. It should be clear by this time that the VA needs to change the process by accepting the fact that reliance on the Missouri List is erroneous and that secondary reliable proof of military service should be accepted. Time is of the essence.

(Tancinco may be reached at [email protected] or at 1 888 930 0808 or at 1 415 397 0808).