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April 2008

VA Benefits for Filipino Veterans

> Citizens of the Republic of the Philippines who serve today in the
> U.S. Armed Forces are eligible for VA benefits under the same criteria
> as other U.S. military veterans. However, eligibility for VA benefits
> for Filipino veterans who served in recognized units of the Philippine
> Armed Forces -- especially during World War II -- is not so clear-cut.
>
> The Philippine Islands gained their independence from the United
> States in 1946 following a transition period that was interrupted by
> World War II. During World War II, Filipinos served in a variety of
> units, some coming under direct U.S. military control, others having
> no ties to the U.S. military, and still others falling somewhere in
> the middle. Federal law, international treaties and court cases have
> taken up the question of which VA benefits should be given to various
> groups of World War II Filipino veterans.

The United States recognizes service in four groups as qualifying for
some VA benefits:

> • **Regular, or "Old," Philippine Scouts.** Regular Philippine Scouts,
> or \"old scouts,\" were members of a small, regular component of the
> U.S. Army that was considered to be in regular active service.
> Originally formed in 1901, long before any formal plan for Philippine
> independence, the Regular Philippine Scouts were part of the U.S. Army
> throughout their existence.
>
> • **Commonwealth Army of the Philippines.** Also known as the
> Philippine Commonwealth Army, these veterans were called into the
> service of the United States Armed Forces of the Far East (USAFFE),
> its members serving between July 26, 1941, and June 30, 1946.
>
> • **Guerrilla Service.** People in this group served as guerrillas in
> USAFFE in resistance units recognized by and cooperating with U.S.
> forces between April 20, 1942, and June 30, 1946.
>
> • **New Philippine Scouts.** New Philippine Scouts were Philippine
> citizens who served with the U.S. Armed Forces with the consent of the
> Philippine government between Oct. 6, 1945, and June 30, 1947.
>
> **- More -**

####### Filipino Veterans 2/2/2/2

> **Entitlement to VA Benefits**
>
> Filipino veterans who served with U.S. forces in the Regular
> Philippine Scouts before October 6, 1945, are entitled to all VA
> benefits under the same criteria as apply to any veteran of U.S.
> military service. Those benefits are paid at the full-dollar rate, and
> their dependents and survivors are entitled to benefits under the
> eligibility rules common to survivors of U.S. veterans.
>
> Veterans of the Commonwealth Army of the Philippines, recognized
> guerrilla forces, and the New Philippine Scouts are entitled to
> compensation for service-connected disabilities. They are not entitled
> to disability pension for non-service-connected disabilities, nor are
> their survivors entitled to death pension.
>
> Benefits for veterans of the Commonwealth Army, recognized guerrilla
> forces, and the New Philippine Scouts who live outside of the United
> States are paid at the rate of 50 cents for each dollar. However,
> these veterans who reside in the United States receive full-dollar
> rate compensation payments if they are either U.S. citizens or
> lawfully admitted permanent resident aliens.
>
> VA pays burial benefits to the survivors of certain veterans at the
> full-dollar rate for veterans who were residing in the U.S. on the
> date of death. Those veterans must also have been either United States
> citizens or lawfully admitted permanent resident aliens. This covers
> only Commonwealth Army and recognized guerrilla service. Eligibility
> applies to deaths on or after Nov. 1, 2000, as this is based on
> legislation enacted in 2000. Burial benefits for these veterans also
> include interment in any national cemetery with available space, a
> burial flag, and a grave marker or headstone.
>
> VA pays burial benefits to the survivors of New Philippine Scouts as
> well, at the full-dollar rate, if the veterans were lawfully residing
> in the United States on the date of death, and were United States
> citizens or lawfully admitted permanent resident aliens. Eligibility
> applies to death on or after Dec. 16, 2003, based on legislation
> enacted in 2003.
>
> The survivors of Commonwealth Army, recognized guerrilla forces, and
> New Philippine Scouts veterans who are entitled to Dependency and
> Indemnity Compensation (for example, if the veteran died during
> military service) are paid at a rate of 50 cents for each dollar when
> residing in the Philippines. Survivors residing in the United States
> and who are either U.S. citizens or lawfully admitted permanent
> resident aliens are entitled to full-dollar payment.

####### Health Care Benefits

> Filipino Commonwealth Army Veterans, including those who were
> recognized by authority of the U.S. Army as belonging to organized
> Filipino guerilla forces, and new Philippine Scouts are eligible for
> VA health care in the United States on the same basis as U.S. veterans
> if they reside in the United States and are citizens or lawfully
> admitted for permanent residence. Old Philippine Scouts are eligible
> for VA health care benefits based upon their status as U.S. veterans.
>
> **- More -**

####### Filipino Veterans 3/3/3/3

> In the Philippines, the Republic of the Philippines government
> provides medical care to eligible Filipino veterans. Filipino veterans
> are ineligible for VA health care treatment services in the
> Philippines although the VA does provide them examinations in
> connection with determining their eligibility for VA compensation and
> pension benefits. U.S. veterans with service-connected conditions are
> eligible for medical care for both service-connected and
> non-service-connected disabilities at the VA outpatient clinic in
> Manila. U.S. veterans there also are eligible for hospital care for
> service-connected disabilities, which is provided under VA contract.

## Background 

> The origins of the Commonwealth Army of the Philippines are in the
> early 1900s when the United States assumed formal sovereignty over the
> Philippines. At that time, the United States was preparing for the
> Philippines to become a sovereign nation. Public Law 73-127, enacted
> in 1934, required the Commonwealth Army to respond to the call of the
> President of the United States under certain conditions. In fact,
> President Franklin Roosevelt ordered the Commonwealth Army to service
> on July 26, 1941, and it served with the USAFFE command throughout
> World War II.
>
> Public Law 79-190, enacted in October 1945, authorized recruiting
> 50,000 "new" Philippine Scouts in anticipation of needing local
> occupational forces. President Truman acknowledged the contributions
> of the Philippine people who fought under the umbrella of the USAFFE
> command to defend the Philippine Islands against occupation by the
> Japanese. He called for a study to determine the level of benefits
> appropriate to conditions in the Philippines. The reduced rate of
> benefits to veterans living there was based on the different economic
> conditions in the Philippines and the United States.
>
> Current laws affecting these benefits date to congressional actions in
> 1946 that specified that the service of groups other than the Old
> Scouts would not be considered U.S. military service. VA officials
> considered that Filipino military service met the statutory definition
> of a U.S. veteran until Congress passed Public Laws 79-301 and 79-391
> in 1946. Public Law 79-301, the First Supplemental Surplus
> Appropriation Rescission Act, authorized a \$200 million appropriation
> to the Commonwealth Army of the Philippines, with the provision that
> service in the Commonwealth Army of the Philippines should not be
> deemed to have been service in the military or naval forces of the
> United States. Public Law 79-391, the Second Supplemental Surplus
> Appropriation Rescission Act enacted in 1946, provided that service in
> the New Philippine Scouts was not deemed U.S. military service.
>
> The U.S. government also gave the Philippine government grants of at
> least \$500,000 per year for more than 30 years, starting in the
> 1960s, to help the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) in Quezon
> City upgrade its equipment and physical plant. In addition, VA
> provided a total of \$3 million in equipment funds to VMMC during the
> period from 2002 to 2005.
>
> A VA contract with the VMMC was expanded by legislation in 1963
> permitting the center to care for non-service-connected conditions of
> Filipino and U.S. veterans.

####### Filipino Veterans 4/4/4/4

> Legislation in 1973 permitted VA itself to provide medical treatment
> of service-connected conditions (and non-service-connected illnesses
> in certain conditions) for Philippine Army and New Philippine Scout
> veterans. The half rates of compensation to most Filipino veterans
> living in the Philippines were intended to reflect that the
> Philippines had a lower cost of living than the United States. Since
> World War II, however, many Filipino veterans and their dependents
> have immigrated to this country.
>
> Legislation enacted in 2000 provided the full-dollar rate compensation
> payments to veterans of the Commonwealth Army or recognized guerrilla
> forces residing in the U.S. if they are either U.S. citizens or
> lawfully admitted permanent resident aliens. Another 2000 law
> authorized payment of burial benefits on behalf of veterans in these
> groups where they had been U.S. citizens or lawfully admitted
> permanent resident aliens.
>
> In 2003, Congress passed legislation that expanded compensation
> benefit payments to the full-dollar rate for New Philippine Scouts
> residing in the U.S. if they are either U.S. citizens or lawfully
> admitted permanent resident aliens. This legislation also expanded
> burial benefit payments to the full-dollar rate for New Philippine
> Scouts who at the time of death were residing in the U.S. and were
> U.S. citizens or lawfully admitted permanent resident aliens. It also
> expanded Dependency and Indemnity Compensation benefits to the
> full-dollar rate for survivors of veterans who served in the New
> Philippine Scouts, Philippine Commonwealth Army or recognized
> guerrilla forces, if the survivor is residing in the U.S. and is
> either a U.S. citizen or a legally admitted resident alien.
>
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