WASHINGTON — The House passed legislation on Sept. 23 to reward belatedly more than 18,000 Filipinos for their service with U.S. forces in the Philippines during World War II.

Amounts involved fall far short of what they and tens of thousands of their Filipino brothers-in-arms were promised for their service. Filipinos made a major contribution to the U.S. defense of its colony and its recovery from imperial Japanese forces as the U.S. military machine moved back toward Japan.

The Filipino Veterans Equity Act of 2008, which passed 382-23, would make one-time payments of $15,000 to Filipinos who are U.S. citizens and $9,000 to non-citizen Filipino veterans.

The Senate passed a bill on veterans’ affairs in April that provided pensions for many of the surviving veterans but has not acted on the House-passed legislation. Senators could take up the House version or meet in conference committee to work out the differences in the two versions of the legislation.

Joint Statement of Support

One of the bill’s supporters is Rep. Mike Honda (D-San Jose), chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus. A Sept. 17 op-ed piece co-authored by Honda and Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Oceanside) noted that 67 years ago, President Franklin Roosevelt ordered into service the Armed Forces of the Philippines, then an American commonwealth, and Filipinos fought in World War II under the American flag.

They were promised the same benefits as GIs, but “the U.S. Congress went back on its promise in 1946 when it passed a bill that specifically yanked benefits from Filipino veterans,” Honda and Issa wrote.

“As Congress comes back into session this month, we will have in the House of Representatives one more opportunity to right this wrong. In April, the Senate passed the Veterans Benefits Enhancement Act by an overwhelming 96-1 vote, with all the World War II veterans from that chamber standing behind their Filipino comrades.

“Now it is our turn in the House. And this is not just about benefits for a few surviving heroes; it is also about our honor as a country and a legislative body. If we are a country of promise making, we should also be a country of promise-keeping.

“More than 250,000 Filipinos fought, bled and sometimes died next to the soldiers of America’s ‘Greatest Generation.’ Many suffered through the infamous Bataan Death March and many ... later served during Japan’s occupation [of the Philippines] ...

“Of all the Filipinos ordered into combat by Roosevelt, only 18,000 are alive today, with each passing day bringing another funeral.

“The bill before the House would qualify these men to receive benefits for which other World War II veterans are eligible. It would use the same disability and income formulas for their Filipino comrades.

Filipinos Not Foreigners

“Those who oppose the bill argue that foreigners would be receiving veterans’ benefits. Let us not forget that, during World War II, the Philippines had been a commonwealth since being acquired by the United States in 1898 during the war against Spain — and that it was made subordinate to the American military.

“Most importantly, when these men bled all over the Pacific Theater, they bled for the same cause as our soldiers who came from Kansas and California. They bled because of the same flag and from bullets fired by the same enemy ...

“This bill responsibly refocuses priorities and fixes a mistake we made as a government more than six decades ago. One American virtue is that when we have made mistakes as a country, we have had the courage to fix them. This fix needs to happen soon so that it will be meaningful.”

(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)