Justice for Filipino American Veterans (JFAV)
Statement of Veterans Day 2014
November 06, 2014

Don’t Say No, No to My Lolo/Lolas, Give Them Equity, Now!

We march again for the third time in 14 years for our veterans and their widows and relatives on Veterans Day, November 11, 2014 i Hollywood to remind America of their broken promises and unfulfilled pledges to our veterans and relatives.

On July 26, 1941, six months before the war, US President Franklin D.Roosevelt conscripted the 120,000 army of the commonwealth of thePhilippines into the United States Armed Forces in the Far East(USAFFE) making the Philippines, the US Garrison outside of the US mainland.

World War II

During the war, USAFFE surrendered in 1942 but not the Filipino people .They waged a three year long war of resistance ,kept their faith in America and rallied again under the US colors and liberated the Philippines from the Japanese yoke.
For their military service , at least 250,000 USAFFE soldiers and guerillas were recognized by the US Army as American soldiers out of more than 436,000 who fought in the Philippines making them eligible for veterans benefits.

But six months later on February 18, 1946, the 79th US Congress declared their “military service inactive” and until now, 68 years later they remained unrecognized as American veterans. Out of the 66 nationalities who fought during the war, only the Filipinos were excluded from benefits and privileges they deserved.

To rub salt into the gaping wounds, the US Congress in 2008 did not pass the S 1350 that recognized the Filipino Veterans and that give hem lifetime pensions but instead passed the ARRA Law of 2009 that gave them measly lump sum. They bail out the banks and the corporations first then give the proper befits to our veterans and widows.

But the most insulting about this law is that out of the 41,000 Filipino veterans who applied, only 18,000 were granted and more than 52% 0r 25,000 of them were denied their benefits.Adding insult to injury, the ARRA law excluded 60,000 Filipinawidows and relatives from receiving these benefits.

Fight Racism and Racial Discrimination

This is the bare and brazen face of racism and racial discrimination that the Filipino-American community suffer in the “land of the free and the home of the brave.” This is the reason why we continue to lobby for equity and justice in the US Congress for the last 21 years. Why we march for the last 14 years. Why we will continue to struggle for equity and justice.

We are not only fighting for the benefits and rights of our Lolo’s and Lolas but also for the rights and dignity of our community. Until now, more than a year has passed, the Obama administration has not granted our demand for the Temporary Protective Status (TPS) for our disaster stricken land, the Philippines.

Until now, the US Congress has not passed a Comprehensive Immigration Reform that will right the wrongs under the broken immigration system that affects more than 12 million immigrants including the Filipinos in America.

We march for equity and justice and we will not stop until we get justice and equity for our Lolos and Lolas and for community.

MAKIBAKA, Huwag Matakot!

Justice and Equity, Now!

Justice for Filipino American Veterans(JFAV)
United States

November 3, 2014

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Leaders of the Historic Filipinotown discusses why the Democrats lost and the reason why VP Binay snub the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing.