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i 

89–507 2015

[H.A.S.C. No. 113–114] 

FILIPINO VETERANS EQUITY COMPENSATION FUND: EXAMINING THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE AND INTERAGENCY 

PROCESS FOR VERIFYING ELIGIBILITY 

HEARING 

BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT 

AND INVESTIGATIONS 

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

ONE HUNDRED THIRTEENTH CONGRESS 

SECOND SESSION 

HEARING HELD 

JUNE 24, 2014 
(II) 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND INVESTIGATIONS 

JOSEPH J. HECK, Nevada, Chairman 

K. MICHAEL CONAWAY, Texas 

MO BROOKS, Alabama 

WALTER B. JONES, North Carolina 

AUSTIN SCOTT, Georgia 

JIM BRIDENSTINE, Oklahoma 

NIKI TSONGAS, Massachusetts 

JACKIE SPEIER, California 

TAMMY DUCKWORTH, Illinois 

TULSI GABBARD, Hawaii 

CHRISTOPHER BRIGHT, Professional Staff Member 

MICHAEL AMATO, Professional Staff Member 

DAVID BAKER, Clerk 
(III) 

C O N T E N T S 

CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF HEARINGS 

2014 

Page 

HEARING: 

Tuesday, June 24, 2014, Filipino Veterans Equity Compensation Fund: Examining the Department of Defense and Interagency Process for Verifying 

Eligibility .............................................................................................................. 1 

APPENDIX: 

Tuesday, June 24, 2014 ........................................................................................... 29 

TUESDAY, JUNE 24, 2014 

FILIPINO VETERANS EQUITY COMPENSATION FUND: EXAMINING 

THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE AND INTERAGENCY PROCESS FOR 

VERIFYING ELIGIBILITY 

STATEMENTS PRESENTED BY MEMBERS OF CONGRESS 

Heck, Hon. Joseph J., a Representative from Nevada, Chairman, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations ...................................................... 1 

Tsongas, Hon. Niki, a Representative from Massachusetts, Ranking Member, 

Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations ................................................ 2 

WITNESSES 

Almeda, Celestino, Filipino Veterans Equity Compensation Fund Claimant .... 19 

Baltazar, Jesse, Filipino Veterans Equity Compensation Fund Claimant ......... 21 

Flohr, Brad, Senior Advisor for Compensation Service, U.S. Department of 

Veterans Affairs ................................................................................................... 4 

Lachica, Eric, Executive Director, American Coalition for Filipino Veterans, 

Inc. ......................................................................................................................... 24 

Levins, Scott, Director of the National Personnel Records Center, National 

Archives and Records Administration ................................................................ 6 

MacEwen, BG David K. ‘‘Mac,’’ USA, The 59th Adjutant General of the 

U.S. Army, Department of the Army ................................................................. 3 

APPENDIX 

PREPARED STATEMENTS: 

Almeda, Celestino ............................................................................................. 49 

Baltazar, Jesse .................................................................................................. 57 

Flohr, Brad ........................................................................................................ 40 

Lachica, Eric ..................................................................................................... 64 

Levins, Scott ...................................................................................................... 45 

MacEwen, BG David K. ‘‘Mac’’ ........................................................................ 33 

DOCUMENTS SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD: 

Statement of U.S. Senator Dean Heller ......................................................... 75 
Page

IV 

DOCUMENTS SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD—Continued 

Joint statement from Jose L. Cuisia, Jr., the Philippine Government’s 

Ambassador to the United States, and Major General Retired Delfin 

N. Lorenzana, Head of the Philippine Government’s’ Office of Veterans 

Affairs ............................................................................................................ 77 

Testimony by Major General Antonio Taguba, USA (ret.) ............................ 78 

WITNESS RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS ASKED DURING THE HEARING: 

Dr. Heck ............................................................................................................ 91 

QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY MEMBERS POST HEARING: 

Ms. Bordallo ...................................................................................................... 95 
(1) 

FILIPINO VETERANS EQUITY COMPENSATION FUND: EXAMINING THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE AND INTERAGENCY PROCESS FOR VERIFYING ELIGIBILITY 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND INVESTIGATIONS, Washington, DC, Tuesday, June 24, 2014. 

The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 2:45 p.m., in room 

2212, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Joseph J. Heck (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JOSEPH J. HECK, A REPRESENTATIVE FROM NEVADA, CHAIRMAN, SUBCOMMITTEE ON 

OVERSIGHT AND INVESTIGATIONS 

Dr. HECK. Well, good afternoon. Thanks everybody for coming. 

Before we begin today, I would like to take a moment to welcome 

and thank Ranking Member Tsongas and all the members of the 

subcommittee who hopefully will be showing up, as we just finished 

votes, for their participation today. 

Although the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee has 

been engaged on several important topics, and we have convened 

for other purposes in recent months, this is the first hearing since 

I assumed the gavel from Representative Roby. Mrs. Roby did an 

outstanding job as chairwoman, and was ably assisted by Ms. Tsongas. And I look forward to advancing that work with everyone in 

the months remaining in this Congress. 

We stand at a critical moment for our Nation’s military and national defense. And I believe the subcommittee’s jurisdiction provides us a great opportunity to have a profound effect on policies 

both at home and abroad. 

Today, we convene to learn more about a program meant to compensate Filipino veterans for service to this Nation during the Second World War. Filipinos have a long and distinguished history 

fighting on behalf of the United States. 

In 1941, more than 260,000 Filipino soldiers responded to President Roosevelt’s call to arms, and fought under the American flag 

during the World War II. Many made the ultimate sacrifice as soldiers or guerrilla fighters during the Japanese occupation of the 

Philippines. However, most World War II Filipino veterans did not 

receive compensation similar to what U.S. veterans received. 

The Filipino Veterans Equity Compensation Fund was established to provide a one-time payment to Filipino veterans as settlement for all future benefits claim based on service. To date, over 

18,000 payments have been approved by the U.S. Veterans Administration. However, some Filipino veterans have expressed concern 
2 

that they were impeded from filing claims or that their claims were 

improperly denied. 

The plight of denied Filipino veterans has been a consistent focus 

of mine since I first met the members of the Las Vegas ‘‘Mighty 

Five.’’ The ‘‘Mighty Five’’ are five Filipino veterans who fought 

bravely under American commanders in the Philippines and helped 

us win the war in the Pacific. The risks they took were no less daring than their American counterparts, their sacrifices made no less 

selfless. 

Now, these brave veterans find themselves engaged in a new 

fight for recognition, respect, and honor. I have spoken with these 

proud men and their families on many occasions. They are certainly not getting any younger. In fact over the past 3 years the 

‘‘Mighty Five’’ was reduced to only two with the passing of Silverio 

Cuaresma, Augusto Oppus, and Romeo Barreras. In addition, we 

lost Commander Francisco Cedulla in 2011, all of which were residents of southern Nevada. 

It is not about the money for these men. They don’t need another 

dime to live out their years comfortably. They are, however, eager 

to have their service recognized. They want to know that the 

United States Government, the Department of Defense, and others 

consider their service was equivalent to many others who served 

proudly. 

The purpose of today’s hearing is to receive testimony from relevant government witnesses regarding the claims approval process, 

and from Filipino veterans regarding their experience. Before recognizing my distinguished ranking member, I note that we will be 

joined potentially by some Members who are not members of the 

subcommittee. Accordingly, I asked unanimous consent that nonArmed Services Committee Members be allowed to participate in 

today’s hearing after all committee members have had an opportunity to ask questions. Hearing no objections, so ordered. 

Now, I turn to Ms. Tsongas for any remarks she may wish to 

make. 

STATEMENT OF HON. NIKI TSONGAS, A REPRESENTATIVE 

FROM MASSACHUSETTS, RANKING MEMBER, SUBCOMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND INVESTIGATIONS 

Ms. TSONGAS. Good afternoon, and thank you Chairman Heck. 

And I would like to thank the chairman, the panel of witnesses, the 

Filipino veterans and their families who are here with us today. 

We as a nation owe a debt of gratitude, not only to our U.S. veterans, but to all those who have taken up arms to join our military 

in pursuit of a common purpose. In this sense, recognizing the significant contributions of Filipino veterans who provided invaluable 

support to the United States military during World War II is an 

important issue. And I look forward to your testimony on the Philippine Veterans Equity Compensation Fund and the claims approval process. 

And for your information, those of you—those of you veterans 

here who or did participate in World War II, my father was a survivor of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and he went on to help build 

runways across the South Pacific. So I thank you for all that you 

have done on our behalf. And I look forward to your testimony. 
3 

Dr. HECK. Thank you Ms. Tsongas. Now, I have also received 

various materials on this topic. I ask by unanimous consent that 

the following be entered into the record: a letter from Nevada Senator Dean Heller; a joint statement from Jose L. Cuisia, Jr., the 

Philippine Government’s Ambassador to the United States and 

Major General Retired Delfin N. Lorenzana, Head of the Philippine 

Government’s’ Office of Veterans Affairs; a statement from Major 

General Retired Antonio Taguba, United States Army. 

Is there any objection? Without objection, so ordered. 

[The information referred to can be found in the Appendix beginning on page 75.] 

Dr. HECK. This hearing will include two panels. On our first 

panel, we will hear testimony from three witnesses representing 

the Department of the Army, the Department of Veterans Affairs 

[VA], and the National Personnel Records Center of the National 

Archives and Records Administration. In our second panel, we will 

receive testimony from the head of the Filipino Veterans Organization and two Filipino Veterans Equity Compensation Fund claimants. 

For the first panel, we have Brigadier General David ‘‘Mac’’ 

MacEwen, the 59th Adjutant General of the United States Army. 

Mr. Bradley Flohr is the Senior Advisor for Compensation Service 

at the Department of Veterans Affairs. Mr. Scott Levins is the Director of the National Personnel Records Center at the National 

Archives and Records Administration. We will hear prepared statements from the witnesses in that order, followed by questions from 

the members. 

I thank you all for joining us today. I look forward to hearing 

your testimony. General MacEwen, we will start with you. 

STATEMENT OF BG DAVID K. ‘‘MAC’’ MacEWEN, USA, THE 59TH 

ADJUTANT GENERAL OF THE U.S. ARMY, DEPARTMENT OF 

THE ARMY 

General MACEWEN. Chairman Heck, Ranking Member Tsongas, 

distinguished members of the committee, I thank you for the opportunity to appear before you on behalf of America’s Army to discuss 

Filipino Army verification of service and measures your Army has 

taken to improve and streamline the process. This is personal to 

me because my father served in the Philippines during World War 

II. And so, ensuring accurate recognition of service of Filipino 

Army members is critical. 

Between late 1942 and June of 1948, the United States Army developed and administered a program to extend formal recognition 

to Filipino guerrilla units and individuals who contributed to the 

defeat of Japanese forces in the Philippines during World War II. 

This Guerrilla Recognition Program was robust. An immense number of documents were collected and investigated to ensure document accuracy. The results of this program were authenticated rosters of recognized guerrilla units, individual letters of recognition, 

certified witness affidavits and AGO [Adjutant General’s Office] 

Form 23 Affidavit for Philippine Army Personnel. These remain the 

basis for the determination of service. 

The Army maintains complete confidence that the records and 

files completed in 1948 provide the best and most accurate deter-
4 

minations that could have been made from that time until today. 

The Army transferred the Philippine veterans service verification 

process to the National Personnel Records Center [NPRC] in 1998. 

The Army, using NPRC as our agent, maintains a close relationship also with the Veterans Administration. The Army has a longstanding and close working relationship with both NPRC and the 

VA. And together we are committed to sustaining an efficient 

claims processing program for Filipino veterans. 

The issue of service verification has remained constant over the 

years. In October 2012, the White House Initiative on Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders in collaboration with OMB [Office of 

Management and Budget] and the Domestic Policy Council, created 

the Filipino Veterans Equity Compensation Fund Interagency 

Working Group. The working group increased the transparency and 

concluded the process we use is sound. This effort represented the 

first time all organizations involved in the verification process were 

brought together to examine the process from start to finish. 

The Army believes the decisions made 66 years ago were made 

by a competent authority that had the benefit of extensive postwar 

field work in conducting investigations with firsthand evidence to 

determine claims validity. The Army is well positioned and committed to meeting the claims processing needs for Filipino veterans. 

It is not possible for the Army to conduct a better, more detailed 

and more thorough investigation today than that which was conducted between 1942 and 1948. We have worked in the past with 

Members of Congress regarding eligibility rules and the criteria for 

service on individual cases and concerns that they may have. And 

we will continue to do so. 

Chairman Heck, Ranking Member Tsongas, and members of the 

subcommittee, we wish to thank you for your continued support 

which has been vital in sustaining our All-Volunteer Army through 

an unprecedented period of continuous combat operations and will 

continue to be vital to ensure the future of our Army. I look forward to answering your questions today. 

[The prepared statement of General MacEwen can be found in 

the Appendix on page 33.] 

Dr. HECK. Thanks, General. Next we will hear from Mr. Flohr. 

Excuse me, Mr. Flohr, is your mic on? 

STATEMENT OF BRAD FLOHR, SENIOR ADVISOR FOR COMPENSATION SERVICE, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS 

Mr. FLOHR. Is this better? Sorry. Chairman Heck, Ranking Member Tsongas, and subcommittee members, thank you for the opportunity to provide an update on the Department of Veterans Affairs 

administration of the Filipino Veterans Equity Compensation 

[FVEC] Fund. As you said, Mr. Chairman, in 1941 more than 

260,000 Filipino soldiers responded to President Roosevelt’s call to 

arms and fought under the American flag during World War II. 

Many served as both soldiers in the United States Armed Forces 

in the Far East and as recognized guerrilla fighters during the Imperial Japanese occupation in the Philippines. Later many of these 

brave individuals became proud United States citizens. 

In 1946, the Congress passed the Rescission Act, providing Filipino World War II service does not qualify for the full range of ben-
5 

efits available to the United States veterans. Congress and this administration recognizes the extraordinary contribution made by Filipino veterans. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 

2009, enacted on February 17, 2009, included a provision creating 

the Filipino Veterans Equity Compensation Fund. Eligible veterans 

who are U.S. citizens receive a one-time payment of $15,000. Eligible veterans who are not U.S. citizens receive a one-time payment 

of $9,000. 

Philippine veterans were required under the law to file a claim 

by February 16, 2010. To qualify for this payment, an individual 

must have served before July 1st, 1946, in the Philippine Commonwealth Army, including recognized guerrillas, or in the New Philippine Scouts. In determining whether claimants are eligible for 

any VA benefit, including FVEC, VA is bound by U.S. military 

service department determinations as to whether the claimant has 

the qualifying service in accordance with statutes and regulations. 

Less than 2 months after the law was passed, VA established an 

adjudication process, payment system, accounting system, and payment delivery system to successfully issue the first FVEC payment 

on April 8, 2009. VA conducted numerous successful outreach programs to inform veterans and their families about this benefit. This 

outreach continued until February 16, 2010, at the end of the 1- 

year filing period. 

VA’s Manila regional office established a dedicated team of employees who solely processed these claims. The Manila regional office also sent letters to all veterans found eligible for the benefit, 

advising them of their potential eligibility for VA disability compensation benefits. 

The Manila office received 42,755 claims for FVEC between February 2009 and February 2010. As of June 1, 2014, of the claims 

received the Manila regional office granted 18,900 payments totaling $225,341,204 million. Currently there are 23,855 claims that 

have not been granted due to ineligibility. 

All original claims have received a decision, but there are currently 19 reopened claims, and 31 appeals pending with VA. Approximately 48 appeals of these decisions are pending with the 

Board of Veterans Appeals, and another 16 are before the United 

States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. 

If all individuals with reopened claims or pending appeals are 

found to be eligible for the payment, the Manila regional office 

would pay additional funds of approximately $1.7 million out of the 

fund. This assumes that all pending claims and appeals that are 

granted would be paid at the maximum of $15,000. In addition, 

$14.5 million has been returned to the Treasury for returned 

checks which results when a veteran dies with no eligible surviving 

spouse claimant. A total of $53.9 million remains in the appropriation. 

The primary reason for denial of claims was the inability of these 

individuals to establish qualifying service required by section 

1002(d) of the Recovery Act. These denied claimants included individuals from all walks of life who exercised their right to make an 

application to VA including children, grandchildren, and other family members of alleged veterans, widows of long-deceased veterans, 

and thousands of duplicative claims that we received. 
6 

In determining whether a claimant is eligible for VA benefit including FEVC, VA is legally bound under its regulations by military service department determinations as to service. Currently, 

unless VA has a genuine document issued by a U.S. military service department containing needed information to establish eligibility, VA regulations applicable to all claimants require that VA 

request verification of military service in the appropriate service 

department. Requests for service verification are sent to the National Personnel Record Center for World War II service and the 

U.S. Army and the Philippine Service who is the custodian of the 

U.S. Army’s collection of records. 

This concludes my testimony Mr. Chairman. I would be happy to 

address any questions you or the other members of the subcommittee may have. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Flohr can be found in the Appendix on page 40.] 

Dr. HECK. Thank you, Mr. Flohr. And we will complete this first 

panel with Mr. Levins. 

STATEMENT OF SCOTT LEVINS, DIRECTOR OF THE NATIONAL 

PERSONNEL RECORDS CENTER, NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND 

RECORDS ADMINISTRATION 

Mr. LEVINS. Good afternoon, Chairman Heck, Ranking Member 

Tsongas, and members of the subcommittee. Thank you for calling 

this hearing and for your continuing efforts to recognize the extraordinary contributions of Filipino veterans, including those who 

served in guerrilla units, for the service they provided in support 

of the United States during World War II. 

I am proud to represent the staff of the National Personnel 

Records Center, many of whom are veterans themselves. I am 

pleased to appear before you today to discuss the work that the 

center does to serve those who have served. We appreciate your interest in this important work. 

The NPRC is an office of the National Archives and Records Administration [NARA] located in multiple facilities in the St. Louis, 

Missouri, area. The center stores and services over 4 million cubic 

feet of military and civilian personnel, medical and related records 

dating back to the Spanish-American war. 

NPRC holds approximately 16 million official military personnel 

files. These holdings also include service treatment records, clinical 

records from military medical treatment facilities, auxiliary records 

such as pay vouchers and service name indexes, and organizational 

records such as morning reports and unit rosters. 

NPRC’s military records facility receives approximately 4,000 

correspondence requests each day from veterans, their next-of-kin, 

various Federal agencies, Members of Congress, the media, and 

other stakeholders. Nearly half of these requests come from veterans seeking a copy of their separation statement, their DD Form 

214 or equivalent, because they need it to pursue a benefit. The 

center responds to 90 percent of those requests in 10 business days 

or less. 

In addition to this correspondence work, the center normally receives between 5,000 and 10,000 requests each week from the VA 

and other Federal agencies requiring the temporary loan of original 
7 

records. These requests are normally serviced in 2 to 3 business 

days. Also included in these holdings are claim folders pertaining 

to Filipino nationals that were adjudicated by the U.S. Army after 

World War II, and unit rosters created by the U.S. Army in conjunction with this postwar recognition program. 

In 1998, NARA entered into an agreement with the Department 

of the Army to accept the physical transfer of these records, though 

they remain today in the legal custody of the Department of the 

Army. Also as part of the agreement, beginning in fiscal year 1999, 

NPRC has assumed the responsibility for referencing these records 

consistent with procedures previously established by the Army. 

In doing so, NPRC reviews its holdings to authenticate service 

determinations previously made by the Department of the Army. 

NPRC does this by examining claim folders, finding aids, and a variety of rosters compiled by the Army during the postwar recognition program. Most often this is done in response to requests from 

the Department of Veterans Affairs regarding compensation claims. 

Recognizing the urgency of these requests, NPRC strives to respond to these requests in 10 business days or less. 

The technical instructions applied by NPRC technicians in referencing these records and responding to such requests, have been 

furnished to the American Coalition for Filipino Veterans and have 

been posted online for public viewing. The instructions are consistent with longstanding policies and practices of the Department 

of the Army and were applied by Army staff prior to the transfer 

of the reference function to NPRC. 

On multiple occasions since the establishment of the Filipino 

Veterans Equity Compensation Fund, officials in the Department of 

the Army have visited NPRC, reviewed its technical instructions, 

examined its work process, and confirmed that NPRC was providing reference services consistent with the long established policies and practices of the Department of the Army. 

NARA has also preserved records of historical value, documenting events that transpired in the Philippines during and after 

World War II. Included are records describing actions taken by the 

U.S. Army to recognize the service of Filipino nationals who supported the United States Army Forces in the Far East, including 

those who served in the guerrilla units. These records are available 

for public review at the National Archives Building in College 

Park, Maryland. 

NARA is pleased to work with the subcommittee and other stakeholders to ensure Filipino veterans, including those who served in 

recognized guerrilla units, are recognized for their extraordinary 

service and support of the United States during World War II. 

We have briefed interested congressional staff and other stakeholders on NARA’s role in the process. We actively participated in 

the interagency working group established by the White House to 

analyze the process, and we have shared information with the Filipino veterans advocacy groups to help provide greater understanding of the reference process. 

Working with the Department of the Army, we modified our response letters to provide more specific details regarding our reference results in instances where we are unable to positively authenticate a prior service determination. And at the suggestion of 
8 

the White House interagency working group, we digitized and posted online a report titled ‘‘U.S. Army Recognition Program of Philippine Guerrillas.’’ This report explains how the recognition process 

was developed at the close of World War II. 

We again extend our thanks to the subcommittee for expressing 

such interest in the role that NPRC provides in this important 

process. I am happy to answer any questions you may have. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Levins can be found in the Appendix on page 45.] 

Dr. HECK. Thank you, Mr. Levins. I thank all of you for being 

here today and for providing your testimony. As a prelude to my 

questions, I want to show a quick kind of a 2-minute video that has 

several points to make about this presentation. 

[Video shown.] 

Dr. HECK. I ask unanimous consent to include into the record the 

video material pertaining to the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

Any objection? Hearing none, so ordered. 

[The information referred to is retained in subcommittee files 

and can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zuRM43nu 

JUn ] 

Dr. HECK. So that video I think is part of the issue and that— 

while it is great to have the outreach, that may have created some 

misperceptions when you hear that is open to every World War II 

Filipino veteran, that it can be applied for very easily, simple onepage, very simple, don’t attach any information. We will call you 

if we need anything else. And then we see a lot of, or a fair number 

of denied claims that seem to keep coming back for appeal or those 

that just simply gave up. 

NPRC documents provided to me by my constituents state that 

in order to establish service, the veteran’s name must appear in the 

archives, and claim folders must contain compatible information. 

So can you tell me or define or outline what compatible information 

is acceptable? 

Mic? 

Mr. LEVINS. I think I turned it off instead of on, I am sorry about 

that. I can give you an overview of how the process works. And 

first, let me note that the standard operating procedures are online 

and available to the public. It included a lot of nuances that I won’t 

cover in my verbal overview. 

When a request comes in, we enter it into a tracking system and 

we digitize it. The request comes in from the VA, and then we assigned it to a small team of technicians. Because the volume of 

work that we received that relates to Philippine Army veterans is 

so small relative to the rest of the volume of work that we get, and 

because the holdings are specialized, they are different than a typical military personnel folder, and the process we follow is different 

than what we do to pull a typical military personnel folder and extract that DD–214, we assigned these cases to a specifically small 

group of people who are especially trained to work on them. 

One of the staff members—a woman named Connie Tauzer, who 

has been doing this work for decades, and actually did it with the 

Department of the Army, and was transferred to the National Archives and Records Administration at the time the records and the 

function was transferred to us. 
9 

The first step in the process is to locate a claim folder. And it 

requires someone to physically go into a stock area where there are 

about 10,000 boxes of records of claim folders that were submitted 

by Filipino nationals to the Army during the recognition process, 

and they are arranged alphabetically. 

And so, the person will have to go out and try to alphabetically 

find the responsive record. When they do that, they will consider 

multiple ultimate spellings of the name, phonetics spellings, recognizing that the name Felipe could have been spelled with an F or 

P. And eventually, they will exhaust their efforts to find a claim 

folder. Once they find the claim folder, when they review its contents, what they are looking for is what is called the Form 23, 

which is an affidavit that was submitted by the Filipino national 

at the time of the recognition program. 

The next thing they are going to do is then attempt to find a roster, and to do that, what they will do is to go to a finding aid. Finding aids are cabinets full of index cards. And they will—again, they 

are arranged alphabetically. They will try to find the corresponding 

index card, and that will direct them to a specific number unit roster. Then they will go and retrieve that unit roster. And they will 

compare the unit roster with the Form 23. 

The unit roster is a list of names and ranks and units. But back 

then, there were no Social Security numbers or service numbers assigned. So you have to compare the Form 23 to make sure that it 

is consistent with what is on the roster, and the roster is the definitive source. If those two pieces of information match, they extract 

information, furnish documents to the VA, and they use that to adjudicate the claim. 

Dr. HECK. So then the claim that they have has to be both on 

a roster and have that piece of paper in the folder—is what is required to be certified? 

Mr. LEVINS. Yes. Yes, sir. 

Dr. HECK. So I would—— 

Mr. LEVINS. And—I am sorry to interrupt you. That process is 

for guerrillas. For members of the Philippine Army, it is identical 

to that, except the procedures allow us, for members of the Philippine Army to consider—if they are not on a roster, to consider 

some secondary information that might also be in that claim folder. 

Dr. HECK. Okay. So an AGO Form 23 is the acceptable document 

to demonstrate proof of service? 

Mr. LEVINS. Not on its own. 

Dr. HECK. No, but that is the document that has to match with 

a roster? 

Mr. LEVINS. Yes. 

Dr. HECK. Or some other document if it is a regular Army not 

a guerrilla? 

Mr. LEVINS. Right. 

Dr. HECK. Okay. So I mean, is it possible that back in 1948 when 

hostilities concluded and everything was drawing down, that somebody didn’t make it onto a roster, but they still have an AGO Form 

23? And so, what is the mechanism by which an individual who 

may not be on the roster, but has an AGO Form 23, can apply and 

be approved for services, is that—there is no option for that indi-
10 

vidual, because they are not on a roster that was constructed back 

in 1948? 

Mr. LEVINS. In the case of guerrillas, that would be the case. 

What you could do is there are historical records at the National 

Archives in College Park that could be researched if you are trying 

to figure out why you were not recognized. 

I had an opportunity yesterday to actually look at some of those 

records. And I looked at a case where someone had written into our 

center on multiple occasions. And we had not been able to authenticate the service. And when I went back to the Archive Records 

in College Park, I was able to find the history that shows that they 

were in the unit they said they were in. But it was a very deliberate decision by the Army to exclude two companies from that 

unit from official recognition. There were multiple letters appealing 

to the Army to reconsider its decision, and there were multiple responses indicating that this was a very deliberate decision that was 

not an oversight; this was back in the late 1940s or early 1950s 

time period. 

Dr. HECK. So despite any other verifiable information they may 

have, particularly in AGO Form 23, and this is the one form one 

of my constituents who has been re-denied and also denied on appeal, because the name doesn’t appear on a roster, as the guerrilla 

roster, they will not be eligible for compensation? 

Mr. LEVINS. In the case of guerrillas, that is correct. We have, 

like I said, nearly 10,000 cubic feet of people who stepped forward 

and submitted those Form 23s, and a lot of those folks are not on 

rosters. 

Dr. HECK. Okay. I will perhaps come back on a second round. 

But I will yield back and recognize Ms. Tsongas. 

Ms. TSONGAS. Thank you. As we will hear in our subsequent 

panelists and as Congressman Heck is beginning to get at, the 

issue of service verification really seems to be the main issue at 

hand. And more specifically, it seems that much of the disagreement hinges on the question of which service records are currently 

required for positive determination of service versus which documents could be used and considered acceptable. 

So, General MacEwen, a question I have for you is, in your testimony, you note that the Army maintained ‘‘complete confidence’’ in 

the records and files it compiled in 1948. What gives the Army 

such certainty that its records from nearly 70 years ago are the 

best and most accurate determination of qualifying Filipino service 

possibility? And if the best, why is it not—why are they not necessarily not the only? And isn’t it possible that individuals who 

served honorably under U.S. command did not make it onto approve rosters? And as we hear the sort of nature of the record keeping, given that it is as old as it is, as rudimentary in its way as 

it is, given sort of modern techniques, I just would like to hear your 

testimony as to why you are so certain that this should be the primary if not the only route to verification of service? 

General MACEWEN. Yes, ma’am, thank you—thank you for that 

question. The process that they went through in 1942 to 1948 was 

a very deliberate process, a sophisticated process, field work done, 

lots of public work with the people of the Philippines and there 
11 

were decisions made, and that is the reason these records were 

classified originally. 

These files were classified ‘‘Secret/No Foreign’’ at the time. They 

were declassified about 20 years ago, but—or about 20 years ago. 

But they were classified for a purpose, because there was all kinds 

of information in those files that got to the entire service, because 

it wasn’t just the time in service that the requirement was when 

we started with this verification and determination process between 1942 and 1948. 

It had a number of different parts to it. Not only that it had a 

time period, but it also had a participation period. There were—I 

mean, 1.2 million claims during the 1940s for verification—determination of qualifying service, but only 260,000 of those were 

deemed to be qualifying service based on this very deliberate process. 

So it is that deliberative process that they have made and documented so clearly is the reason that I have confidence that I—we 

couldn’t do it any better under the rules that were established by 

the Congress in the 1940s of what qualifying service was. 

Ms. TSONGAS. Did the rules that you applied in the 1940s that 

are the challenge here or because I still—we will hear from a subsequent panelist that did not appear in the list that you have put 

together. And yet, it is very clear from the records that he has been 

able to provide, that he did actually serve. 

So I am just—so as a result, you know, for whatever reason, if 

he didn’t make it onto the list back in the 1940s, why he should 

automatically be ruled out given that subsequently he was able to 

show his service? 

General MACEWEN. Yes, ma’am. The name on the roster means 

that that person, their documents were scrutinized, verified and 

authenticated at the time. And that was—that is a decision that I 

can’t see where I could go back and see under those same criteria 

that were in place in 1942, that I can’t second-guess their view. 

Ms. TSONGAS. All right. Another question, is there a process in 

place for people who did not hear, perhaps didn’t see the public announcement that this was available to them, as they come forward, 

they learned post 2010 about this? Is there any process in place for 

those people? 

Mr. FLOHR. Ranking Member Tsongas, unfortunately there is 

not. The statute limited that time period to a 1-year period ending 

in February of 2010. We are talking a lot here about guerrilla service and being unable to verify that. You know, VA has granted a 

number, thousands and thousands of claims from Philippine veterans, they were eligible Commonwealth Army and guerrillas were 

eligible for disability compensation for injuries incurred while they 

were on active duty. And their surviving spouses were eligible for 

death benefits if they died of a service connected disability or while 

on active duty. 

So we don’t have an issue with verifying that type of service, because this has always been verified. Because we have got that information, we had verified service and we granted benefits to—as 

I said thousands of Philippine veterans. 

It is only the cases of the guerrillas that have not come forward 

or have not been found to be a guerrilla on a reconstructed roster. 
12 

I can tell you there is an issue with the way the names may have 

been recorded. We have several hundred, a number of hundreds of 

appeals of denials for this benefit. 

And as of May of last year, we have granted about 450 appeals 

we had overturned because we found that the individual served 

under a slightly different name. Served with the middle name or 

did not serve with the middle name, and once we got that information, we provided it to NPRC. They were able to verify that person’s eligibility. And then we granted the benefits immediately. 

So it is really as General MacEwen said, there is a lot about 

going backwards. And right now, it would be very difficult to go 

back and find unfortunately a number of these individuals. 

Ms. TSONGAS. Thank you. My time is up. 

Dr. HECK. So I guess, following up on Ms. Tsongas’s line of questioning, I guess, you know, it certainly is possible that individuals 

who served honorably in a recognized guerrilla unit may have been 

omitted from the reconstructed roster for several reasons, it would 

appear. Some is that perhaps the service wasn’t determined to be 

valid service, some maybe that they just didn’t show up to get their 

name put on the roster for whatever reason. They just, you know, 

missed the time when the rosters were reconstructed, and their 

name didn’t show up on it for whatever reason. 

So in that regard, and I think Mr. Levins, you mentioned that 

if they were able to find some other type of documentation of service whether it was, you know, in the National Archives in College 

Park, that showed them participating in a unit that was recognized, that somehow they would then be eligible for the benefit, is 

that correct? 

Mr. LEVINS. Did I turn it off? I am not aware of that ever happening before. Yesterday, it was the first time I laid eyes on those 

materials at College Park. And what they showed me was a historical accounting of the effort that the Army only went through during this recognition program. And that that would be a good source 

to go to if you were looking for a legitimate reason as to why your 

unit may have been excluded. 

I have never been to the Philippines, and I wasn’t born until 25 

years after the war. So I don’t consider myself an expert at this. 

But in preparation for this hearing, I read a lot of the historical 

documents about the Army effort. And there were—there is—MacArthur had five points that established the criteria for units to be 

recognized. 

And those five points, they dealt with things like they had to be 

organized in a specific manner that was similar to a U.S. Army 

unit or to a Philippine Army unit. There had to be record keeping. 

It had to be a full-time commitment, not a part-time. So the impression I got from reviewing those materials is that there are 

probably a number of people who supported the United States in 

some way or another, but fell short of the threshold to have their 

service recognized by the Department of—— 

Dr. HECK. It kind of segues into my next question. So I am looking at an AGO 23 now. And on it there are kind of three categories 

of service. There is a USAP Regular or Reservist, USAP Guerrilla, 

and then Civilian Guerrilla. Can you address the issue of a Civilian 

Guerrilla, and whatnot as a category? Those individuals are eligi-
13 

ble for the benefit or would they not as a category be eligible, because it was a part-time—perhaps a part-time service and not a 

recognized force? 

General MACEWEN. Sir, I don’t—I don’t know the answer. I will 

take that for the record. I can tell you though, that this whole 

thing about—I mean, there were thousands and thousands of people fighting alongside us, and as well as just fighting for their own 

country. They just unfortunately weren’t eligible under the criteria 

that were established, you know, under the command of MacArthur 

and all those—the rest of those five things. 

[The information referred to can be found in the Appendix on 

page 91.] 

Dr. HECK. Thank you. I will yield back the balance of my time. 

And we now will go to Ms. Duckworth. 

Ms. DUCKWORTH. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I—well, I would 

like to start off by recognizing Major General Taguba, who is here 

in the audience. And thank you for your many, many years of dedicated service, not just to this country, but your leadership on this 

issue. 

I am absolutely astounded, gentlemen. These men are dying. 

These men did not wait when the United States asked for help. 

They stepped forward immediately and volunteered to serve. Why 

are we making them wait 70 years? 

Mr. Flohr, I am sorry, is that how you pronounce your name? 

Thank you. What is the backlog? What is the total number of 

claims that are pending right now waiting to be approved or having 

a decision? 

Mr. FLOHR. Are you asking about backlog itself or the total number of claims pending? 

Ms. DUCKWORTH. The total numbers of claims pending from Filipino veterans or veterans trying to access this compensation. 

Mr. FLOHR. Ma’am, I am not aware of—as I have said in my 

statement, we have completed all original applications. 

Ms. DUCKWORTH. Okay. How many are on appeal? 

Mr. FLOHR. There are 19 reopened claims that, as they have 

been able to furnish additional evidence, that we are looking at. 

And there were 31 on appeal in the Veterans Benefits Administration, 48 of the Board of Veterans Appeals and 16 at the court. 

Ms. DUCKWORTH. How many have been denied? 

Mr. FLOHR. 23,000-plus. 

Ms. DUCKWORTH. 23,000-plus, okay. Mr. Levins, do you know 

how many are waiting to be looked at that have that Form 23, but 

have not—we have not found the piece of paper or maybe it is a 

rock that somebody has chiseled in this information into one of 

these—I mean, archaic doesn’t even begin to describe the process 

that you are explaining to me. But how many are stuck in this 

limbo where we are still trying to marry up the two different—the 

Form 23 and the whatever records there are? 

Mr. LEVINS. There are very few pending with us. We—this morning I called in to the office and I think the number wasn’t—was 

40 something, and they dated back from like mid-June. We recognize the urgency of this request. And we are trying to respond as 

quickly as we can. And year to date, this fiscal year, I think our 
14 

response time is like 81⁄2 business days, we get the information 

back to the VA. 

Ms. DUCKWORTH. Okay. So there is $50 million in the account, 

and we are quibbling with these men, less than 200 men probably, 

who have been denied, who are on appeal, waiting for them to die 

so this goes away. And we are quibbling over—what—$1.5 million 

if they were all approved, is that what we said it was going to be 

Mr. Flohr—if they are all approved? 

Mr. FLOHR. The estimate is approximately $1.7 million, yes. 

Ms. DUCKWORTH [continuing]. $1.7 million; there is $50 million in the account, there is $1.7 million, and we are quibbling with 

them over this. And we are just basically dragging our—we are just 

waiting for them to die, which is unconscionable, because they were 

not waiting for Americans to die before they came forward to help. 

And General MacEwen, I understand what you are saying about 

the record keeping and the very clear directive from General MacArthur. But we have to also remember that the United States 

Army and the United States itself at that time had some racist tendencies. And that some of those decisions may have been not necessarily based on the actual facts of how these men served. We had 

our own Senator, a great Senator, Daniel Inouye had his Medal of 

Honor downgraded to a Silver Star simply because of his race. And 

he was not the only one. And the Asian-Americans have seen this 

time and time again. 

I have also seen it in Iraq many instances, and I deal with this 

in my own congressional service of veterans coming forward who 

have not had records kept on their service who are trying to get 

a Combat Action Badge [CAB]. In fact the members of my own 

crew who were blown up with me, two of them did not get a Combat Action Badge because they said they were told there was no 

proof. Yet, they were in the same aircraft with me. And I had to 

intervene in order to get them their CABs. 

So let’s not talk about how great the Army’s record keeping is because as best as the Army does, we all understand what happens 

in a wartime situation. I just think it is ridiculous that we just 

don’t approve these, get these men their compensation and then 

audit. We are punishing the majority of folks because we think 

that some of them are cheaters. I am sure there are cheaters out 

there. But we should go after the cheaters through an audit process. I don’t understand why we don’t just approve it, thank them 

for their great service, in addition to their nation, but for the great 

nation—for the United States, as well. And I am sure that the 

Americans whose lives they saved would want that to happen. I 

yield back, Mr. Chairman. 

Dr. HECK. Thanks, Ms. Duckworth. You know, just quick, of the 

initial claims that were denied, do you know how many, what percentage were then approved on appeal? 

Mr. FLOHR. Yes, sir, Mr. Chairman; approximately 10 percent, 

150-plus as of May of last year. I don’t believe there would be much 

more than that. I don’t have that number as of today. But there 

are only 31 still pending in the VA. 

Dr. HECK. Okay. Thank you. And I want to echo, you know, Ms. 

Duckworth’s comment is that, I understand the record keeping, and 

I understand everything that was tried to be done back in 1942 to 
15 

1948 with the reconstructing rosters. But it would seem that if 

somebody comes in with an AGO 23, that has got a stamp on it, 

you know, stamped by the U.S. Government certifying they have 

served, that it should be the document that qualifies the individual 

for service. And we have a piece of legislation that is trying to do 

that. And we are going to see if we can continue to push that. I 

know that will make it much easier for you, General. I understand 

you are just interpreting the law and the regulations as they are 

written. And we have got to take the steps necessary to open up 

that pathway for more Filipino veterans. 

Ms. Gabbard. 

Ms. GABBARD. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I too would 

just like to recognize my colleague Ms. Duckworth, and echo her 

comments about really understanding that this piddling over details when we are talking about constituents of ours, veterans who 

are here today, who are literally dying as they are waiting for the 

bureaucracy to recognize their service after decades and decades of 

waiting. 

The other issue I think that we need to address is this one-stop 

opportunity of saying that you have until this date, and that is it, 

and then the door is closed to you when clearly there are still many 

more issues that need to be dealt with and recognized in verifying 

and recognizing their service, and for those who maybe didn’t get 

the message or who were not able to put their claims in before that 

2010 date. And again, the resources are there, they have been allocated to be able to recognize them. 

I have a question about how helpful the Philippine Army documents have been in being able to successfully turn around some of 

the appeals or some of these claims in verifying records of service 

or whoever would like to take that question? 

Mr. FLOHR. Thank you, Congresswoman. I think I stated earlier, 

it was because something like 450 appeals had been granted on 

further review when we were able to contact the individual, the 

veteran, and find out that they had served under a slightly different name. And when we sent, we are able to use the name that 

they had served under which was somewhat like I said, they used 

their middle name, which they don’t use now. And we were—just 

to be able to send that to NPRC, they were able to then find the 

individual on the roster as a recognized guerrilla, and we immediately granted that benefit. 

Ms. GABBARD. And those 450 overturned claims, that was because the veteran had appealed after they had been rejected? 

Mr. FLOHR. Yes. 

Ms. GABBARD. So you have 24,977 applications that have been 

disapproved which is a few—what—6,000 more than have been approved. Has your organization gone through, yourselves, at those 

that are disapproved to see what other veterans who may not have 

filed an appeal will face the same situation where it may be a 

slightly different name, which is basically a clerical error? 

Mr. FLOHR. I can’t say that we have. The numbers that have 

been denied, as I said in my opening statement, many of those 

were from children, and grandchildren, and uncles and aunts, and 

deceased, you know, survivors of deceased veterans, and they are 
16 

not entitled under the law to that benefit. And we have duplicates, 

many, many thousands of duplicate claims filed. 

Ms. GABBARD. Do you know what percentage—— 

Mr. FLOHR. That all goes into that 23,000. 

Ms. GABBARD. What percentage of those disapproved claims were 

from family members versus the veteran themselves? 

Mr. FLOHR. I am sorry, I don’t have that number. But, you know, 

it has been a large number. But the efforts to get the word out, like 

John Skelly did on that video, regional office personnel in Manila, 

from the day the law was passed, they started going out to all the 

provinces, there are like a thousand islands that make up the Philippine Islands. They went out to all of the provinces, they partnered with the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office, they held intake—they took claims on the islands that they visited, they had 

them come to—they went to Memorial Hospital, VA Memorial Hospital, took claims from patients there at the hospital. They did 

all—they did outreach up until the last day of the filing period that 

ended. So there may be some that didn’t hear about it. But I think 

they did pretty much all of the outreach they could have done. 

Ms. GABBARD. And I think there are also many Filipino veterans 

who are not residing in the Philippines, which is a point that needs 

to be recognized. And to do justice for these veterans, for clerical 

errors which they had no part in, it seems the least you could do 

is to go back and review their applications, which are disapproved 

through no error of their own, to correct them and not sit around 

and wait for them to file those appeals. I yield back. 

Dr. HECK. Mr. Flohr, if you could take that question for the 

record, percentage of the denials that were the family members 

versus the veterans themselves? 

Mr. FLOHR. Yes, sir. 

[The information referred to can be found in the Appendix on 

page 91.] 

Dr. HECK. Thank you. We will now recognize Ms. Speier. 

Ms. SPEIER. Mr. Chairman, thank you. This issue to me is more 

than, than vexing. We make mistakes as a government from time 

to time. Ones we deeply regret. I would hope that one of the mistakes that we deeply regret is telling the Filipinos who served with 

us in World War II that they would be treated like veterans at the 

end of their service, and then rescinding that promise after the 

war, would be something we would regret, and if so, we would 

want to fix. It is the only group of nationals, of many groups of nationals that served with us across the world, that were given that 

pledge that then had it reneged on. And that is pretty shameful. 

So for us to now go through this process where we are only talking 

about giving $15,000 in benefits or $9,000 of benefits. 

And basically of all those who have applied only 20 percent have 

actually been approved, which would suggest that 80 percent of the 

applications were by people who were lying, who were just trying 

to rip off the American government. I mean, I find that pretty preposterous that we would have that kind of presumption. And to Ms. 

Duckworth’s point of presuming they are truthful until proven otherwise, would seem to make a lot of sense. 

Now one of the complicating factors is that there was fire that 

burned a lot of records. And we somehow just disregard that and 
17 

presume like it didn’t happen I guess. But the truth is many of 

those Filipino Scouts were probably on that list and there is this 

sense of well we think we’ve kind of recreated it. 

So I am really troubled by this, this really I think, embarrassing 

process that we are going through where we’ve got boxes of records 

that we are flipping through and trying to see if we can somehow 

identify people and then going through index cards. I mean it is 

pretty laughable at this point when if you go back to the original 

supposition it was that they were going to get full veterans benefits 

and then we reneged on that. 

So shouldn’t we be erring on the side of providing the benefit to 

the few remaining Filipino vets that are alive? I mean we already 

know the numbers are really reduced. So my question is, can you 

administratively reopen the application time period without legislation? 

Mr. FLOHR. Ma’am, I do not believe so. Not without legislation, 

no. 

Ms. SPEIER. So you couldn’t by regulation do that? 

Mr. FLOHR. No. 

Ms. SPEIER. In the statute itself? 

Mr. FLOHR. It is in the statute, yes. 

Ms. SPEIER. All right. According to the VA some records for the 

New Philippine Scouts were damaged or destroyed in the fire. However, in most instances the service department can verify New Filipino Scout servicing using alternative methods—that is a quote 

from the VA. So the presumption is even though these records were 

burned, we can pretty much figure out who they were even though 

the records were burned. 

So I am kind of confused by it. How many individuals does this 

impact and how did you make the assessment given that the documents were destroyed? 

Mr. LEVINS. I think that statement came from the VA, but I 

would like to clarify a little bit about the fire and the impact. Last 

fiscal year we were seeing about 2,500 requests related to service 

in the Philippine Army or as a guerrilla or as a Scout. 

The majority of those were guerrillas or else people claiming to 

have served in the Philippine Army; a very, very small number 

were Scouts. If you were in the Philippine Scouts you were actually 

inducted into the regular army and you would have had a military 

personnel record just like any other member of the army. 

And that is why if you were in the Scouts your records would 

have been stored among the records of World War II service men 

and could have been damaged or lost in that fire. As far as the collection of the guerrilla rosters and the claim folders that I have 

been speaking about, those were not impacted by the fire. 

Ms. SPEIER. So what is the harm done at this point in granting 

these pending applications and having a claw-back opportunity, if 

in fact it is determined that they are not legitimate? 

Mr. FLOHR. Congresswoman, we are—unfortunately we are—saying unfortunately—we are subject to laws and regulations that describe and direct how we process claims. If a veteran from World 

War II who served in Europe, an American veteran who now came 

forward—and they are still living of course—veterans come forward 

at this time and file a claim for anything—a disability that they 
18 

incurred, say they incurred in World War II, and we have never 

received anything from that veteran in the past, we would have to 

go through the same process we are going with this. And so we 

have to contact NPRC if we didn’t have a DD–214 or they didn’t 

provide, a veteran could not provide one to verify the service. 

Everything starts with service verification. In order to receive 

benefits you have to have verified military service. 

Ms. SPEIER. Well, I know but let’s be—my time is up, Mr. Chairman and I will—if you are going to do a second round, I will ask 

questions on the second round. 

Dr. HECK. We’re going to have time for second round—on this 

panel because we have the second panel. We have votes again at 

4:40. So I think with Ms. Tsongas, did you have one? Okay, all 

right, Ms. Bordallo, yes. 

Ms. BORDALLO. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman for calling 

this hearing. And frankly I am disheartened and embarrassed by 

what I am learning today. I am from Guam so, ‘‘mabuhay.’’ And I 

salute all of the veterans, and I know there has to be a few veterans in the audience today. 

And most of my constituents on Guam are Filipinos. We went 

through World War II, one of my first pieces of legislation to be introduced into Congress was the war claims for our people. People 

from the commonwealth of the Northern Marianas received claims; 

we never received any claims for what we went through, and we 

were occupied just as the Philippines for 41⁄2 or about 4 years by 

the Japanese. 

It is going through the House, the bill, and approved five times 

but just last week again, it was denied by the Senate, even though 

I found an offset for these claims. So I know what you are going 

through and frankly, I am shocked. I really am. 

I thought we did—I was part of the legislation that gave benefits 

to the Filipino veterans, health benefits, and so forth. But I didn’t 

know that all of this existed. Now from what I hear 2 million 

claimants in—is that true that you started out with as many as 2 

million? I thought I heard that here. 

General MACEWEN. Ma’am, when we did the original verification—it was 1.2 million. 

Ms. BORDALLO. 1.2 million, all right. And thousands and thousands were denied. And I go along with Congressman Duckworth 

here, how many are alive? I don’t have many veterans left in Guam 

you know, now; I mean they are in their 80s and 90 years old. Now 

I am suggesting in fact with your records how many of those original claimants are still alive? You have those figures? 

Mr. LEVINS. No, we would have no way of knowing. 

Ms. BORDALLO. No, we have no way of knowing. Well, I am sure 

that many of them are gone. Now I am suggesting that we have 

to go through legislation again to renew this because your—you 

said it is—time is running out, is that correct? When is the last? 

Mr. FLOHR. Congresswoman, the period ended in February of 

2010. 

Ms. BORDALLO. Oh my, okay. So we probably will have to go, and 

I am suggesting that for all of those who originally claimed and 

have died, that perhaps this small amount of $15,000 or $8,000 

could be given to at least one survivor. And we can legislate this 
19 

to use up this money that is sitting in this account. And right now 

if you took care of all the claimants what, it would only come to 

about $1 million or $2 million, is that correct? And you—it is $50 

million in the account? 

Mr. FLOHR. Yes, ma’am. And if a veteran filed an application for 

this benefit and before it was—a decision was made and it was 

granted, died, if he had a surviving spouse, she would be eligible 

for the—— 

Ms. BORDALLO. That is part—well I suggest we go back and take 

a look. And certainly those survivors are still there, aren’t they? 

Mr. FLOHR. Well, I am sure that they are. And the veteran, on 

his application would have indicated he was married and we would 

have reached out to his surviving spouse and made that payment. 

Ms. BORDALLO. Well, Mr. Chairman, I am just, you know, I have 

been through this now for 12 years here in the Congress, trying to 

work for the people on Guam. And incidentally, we have a number 

of Philippine Scouts on Guam. Most of them have passed on. 

So, this is truly sad. And I think we ought to look and maybe 

open this up again, if there is money there, and continue to work 

on trying to find the few that are left, and perhaps, give some kind 

of compensation to the survivors to appease the Filipino people. 

I think this is truly—I am embarrassed and I just think it is 

wrong. They were there; they fought with us, many of them died. 

And we promised and we haven’t held out on that. 

So, Mr. Chairman, with that, I yield back. 

Dr. HECK. Thank you, Ms. Bordallo. Thank you for taking the 

time to participate in today’s hearing. 

All right, gentlemen, we appreciate your testimony, realizing 

that you are just the messenger and that you are interpreting the 

regulations and the law as it was written. And it is incumbent 

upon us to make the necessary changes to be able to continue to 

try to expand the benefit—to get to those that rightfully deserve. 

So again, thank you for your service and thank you for being 

here today. And thank you for your testimony. 

So what we will do now is we kind—we will move into the second 

panel. And as we are flipping the panels, I will introduce the next 

set of witnesses. We have Mr. Celestino Almeda, who is a 97-yearold Filipino-American World War II veteran and an SVEC claimant. Mr. Jesse Baltazar, who is also a Filipino Veterans Equity 

Compensation Fund claimant. And Mr. Eric Lachica who is the son 

of a Filipino-American veteran and serves as the executive director 

of the American Coalition for Filipino Veterans Incorporated. As 

well, we have other distinguished Filipino veterans in the audience 

with us today. And I thank you, gentlemen, for being here. 

We will hear a testimony from the witnesses in the order that 

I just named them. Mr. Almeda, whenever you are ready, you may 

begin. 

STATEMENT OF CELESTINO ALMEDA, FILIPINO VETERANS 

EQUITY COMPENSATION FUND CLAIMANT 

Mr. ALMEDA. Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman and members of this 

committee. My name is Celestino Almeda, a 97-year-old FilipinoAmerican World War II veteran. I am the spokesman of the Amer-
20 

ican Coalition for Philippine Veterans advocacy national organization. I reside in Gaithersburg, Maryland. 

I have walked the halls of Congress together with a few dedicated veterans and volunteers over the past 15 years. We seek justice, honor, recognition, and equitable benefits for my comrades and 

their dependents. 

In the years past, we had joined Senators Daniel Inouye, Daniel 

Akaka, as well as Congress Members Ben Gilman, Bob Filner, 

Mike Honda, Darrell Issa, and Nancy Pelosi in countless hearings 

to pass several bills. 

In addition, we had been arrested in front of the White House 

to get the attention of George W. Bush. Pictures presented when 

we were chained at the fence of the White House. 

Thus, it is my honor to testify before this committee on the eligibility problems my comrades and I faced when we applied for Filipino Veterans Equity Compensation benefits. Allow me to use my 

case as an unfortunate example. 

The VA Department and the U.S. Army had repeatedly denied 

my requests for official recognition and my application for the Filipino Veterans Equity $15,000 veteran’s benefit in minimal amount. 

Allow me to tell my story. I was a vocational industrial arts instructor in a high school in the Philippines before the World War 

II. The Philippines was then a commonwealth territory of the 

United States. I was a national—a U.S. national who pledged allegiance to America. 

In anticipation of hostilities with Imperial Japan, President 

Franklin Roosevelt ordered on July 26, 1941, the Philippine Commonwealth Army into the service of the Armed Forces of the 

United States, later named USAFFE, or U.S. Armed Forces in the 

Far East. 

When the war was started, I was a ROTC graduate and in a Reserve Officer Training Corps. Thus, I was inducted into the active 

duty in December 1941, in the Anti-Sabotage Regiment in the Philippine Commonwealth Army Forces. 

After the fall of Bataan and Corregidor, I joined the Filipino 

guerrillas. When the war was about to end, I reported for processing at Camp Murphy, now Camp Aguinaldo, and was mustered 

and given my discharge papers by the U.S.-Philippine Commonwealth Army personnel on April 2, 1945, with AS number 0–34642 

by U.S. Army Lieutenant John B. Staples, summary court officer. 

Later, I returned to military control and was assigned to the 

Construction Corps of the Philippines, a U.S. Army Engineer 

Corps. I had meticulously kept service records of my USAFFE, 

Philippine Army Special Orders in 1941, 1942, and 1945 from my 

Philippine Army and American officers with payment records from 

the Philippine Commonwealth Army Headquarters. 

Let me show you a portion of my records. They are brown in 

color, crispy to be broken upon handling. I used these documents 

as evidence when I applied for U.S. naturalization based on my 

USAFFE military service under the 1990 Immigration Law. 

This is my first U.S. passport issued in Manila in 1996. And with 

the same record, I got my universal access card to the VA hospital; 

this is my access card. 
21 

To make it short, I contested this NPRC decision with the help 

of a prominent immigration lawyer in Los Angeles and USAFFE 

documents I had. After appealing, as I have said, I was granted 

citizenship. In 2003, after George W. Bush signed the healthcare 

for Filipino veterans, I applied for VAI hospital identification 

card—that I have shown already my international card. 

Incredibly, despite this crucial U.S. Army personnel account provided by the NPRC, the VA Board of Appeal decided on February 

27, 2013, to deny my FVEC application based on a faulty legal 

opinion of their VA general counsel. 

I have elevated my disagreement with the VA to the U.S. Court 

of Appeals for Veterans Claims. I am waiting for a decision up to 

now. I truly believe I have satisfied the provision of the law by filing my claim within 1-year period from the enactment of the law. 

I have complied with all the requirements for payment that are 

documents were issued by U.S. military department and contained 

the needed information as to length, time, and character of service 

and my documents are genuine and contain accurate information. 

I have submitted to the VA the following key documents about 

my service: USAFFE Adjutant General Office Form 23, affidavit for 

military personnel, signed by American officer Lieutenant John 

Staples, dated April 2, 1946; officers and warrant officers qualification card from my file; U.S. Department Form 336 Revised—Revised Pay and Allowance Account; affidavit from my USAFFE comrades, who attested to my service; and U.S. Armed Forces Recovered Personnel Division (PHILRYCOM) document of my missing 

person status and USAFFE service by NPRC on March 19, 2012. 

In closing, I stand to challenge any government agency or private 

institution with expertise regarding this matter to declare my documents fraudulent and I am ready to be punished to the full extent 

of the law. 

I look forward to answering your questions. Forgive me if I cannot hear you well. I am not as young as I want to be. 

Mr. Chairman, thank you again for your opportunity before your 

committee. In addition, personally, I will directly say that NPRC 

is not a service department. And there is no contract between the 

Army and the NPRC, but the records are from a service department. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Almeda can be found in the Appendix on page 49.] 

Dr. HECK. Thank you, Mr. Almeda. Thank you. Now, hear from 

Mr. Baltazar. 

Mr. Baltazar, you have 5 minutes, if you can, to keep your statement. 

STATEMENT OF JESSE BALTAZAR, FILIPINO VETERANS 

EQUITY COMPENSATION FUND CLAIMANT 

Mr. BALTAZAR. Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman and the members 

of the committee. My name is Jesse Baltazar. I am 93 years old, 

American World War II veteran of Korea and Vietnam. I am a 

member of the American Coalition of Filipino Veterans advocacy 

national organization, where Mr. Lachica is the chairman. 

On behalf of my comrade here, I am here today—may I thank 

you for asking me to be here today and recommend solutions to 
22 

these eligibility problems of other thousands of surviving Filipino 

World War II veterans. 

I am here to support my friend, Celestino Almeda in his fight for 

the original recognition for the U.S.—United States Army and the 

VA. I have known Mr. Almeda for the past decade and worked with 

him in several veterans association. 

Even these days, thousands of Filipino veterans who served in 

Bataan like him are still fighting for his rights and for the benefits 

for the $15,000 veteran’s benefits. I was an exception because I 

kept all the records, my original records in my possession, needed 

to satisfy the entitlement for those benefits. 

This is an injustice, Mr. Chairman. Even President Truman, in 

his letter to the president of the Senate and the Speaker of the 

House in November—in May 15—May 18, 1945, stated the records 

of the Philippine soldiers for bravery and loyalty is second to none. 

And that there can be no question that what the Philippine veterans is entitled to benefits to very reasonable relation to those recovered—received by the American veterans with whom he fought 

side by side. 

First, I would like to introduce myself. I am a retired Air Force 

major. I was born in Manila, Philippines. I began my career in 

1941 when I was inducted in the United States of the Armed 

Forces in the Far East, USAFFE as we call it. 

I was a POW [prisoner of war] and a survivor of the infamous 

Bataan Death March. After the war, I came to the United States 

to continue my military career. Upon arrival in San Francisco in 

1946, I re-enlisted in the Army. I was the first and only U.S. inductee on record who did this. 

In 1945, I was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the 

United States Air Forces being—I served in the United Air Force 

for 20 years assigned primarily overseas with the Office of Special 

Investigations of the United States Air Force. I served as a Russian 

interrogator in Korea, and Berlin, Germany. 

After each—after which—after retirement from the military, I 

worked in the State Department starting in 1966 and continuing 

to the present time. I am still considered the oldest employee of the 

State Department. I began in Vietnam as a deputy provincial advisor in Region IV and currently, as a—currently, my job as a construction security commissioned in the State Department. 

I graduated from Georgetown University in 1955 with a B.S. degree in languages and linguistics. In 1979, I received my Masters 

in education from the University of Virginia. 

I fought in the battle of Bataan in 1942. I became a prisoner of 

war of the Japanese when the Americans surrendered in April 9, 

1942. I was wounded and injured during combat. I survived the 

Death March. When I escaped with Filipino fishermen who smuggled me and a comrade in the middle of the night through infested 

swamps of Bataan. 

I was determined to do whatever it took to survive individually. 

The thought of not surviving never occurred to me even in Korea 

or Vietnam, even with that bomb that went off in our company. 

I am one of the few 80,000 Filipinos who walked in the infamous 

Bataan Death March in April 1942. Of this number, 25,000 men, 

women, and children lost their lives. We suffered brutal and inhu-
23 

mane treatment from the Japanese soldiers aside from the malnutrition, dysentery, malaria, beriberi, and exhaustion. We were 

fed only a cup of boiled rice with a few flakes of salmon each day. 

Then, we laid down on the filthy bare ground of the compound at 

the mercy of the mosquitoes, scorpions, leeches, ants, and crickets. 

Over 100,000 Filipinos of the Commonwealth of the Army fought 

alongside the other allies to reclaim the Philippine Islands from 

Japan in the name of democracy. We served as courageously as our 

counterparts during the Pacific War. 

Our contribution helped to disrupt the initial offensive timetable 

in 1942 at—for 90 days, Philippine Army and American soldiers, 

despite shortage of food, lack of ammunition, obsolete and malfunctioning military hardware, and hostile jungle terrain, had battled 

the well-equipped invading Japanese Army. 

Without the assistance of the Filipinos units, liberation of the 

Philippines would have taken much longer and with greater casualties of the United States. 

We suffered brutal and inhumane treatment from the Japanese 

soldiers, aside from the malnutrition again and the different diseases. We were all—I lost my brother—my older brother and my 

younger brother when they fought the Japanese. My two sons, 

Melchior and Thomas, are here. Thomas is a former U.S. Army Officer and my son, Melchior, a U.S. Navy Seal. 

For my World War II service in the Philippines Army soldier, I was awarded the $15,000 Filipino Veterans Equity Compensation 

in April 19—2010. However, that was not easy. I was initially denied when the Department of Veterans Affairs, when they said the 

NPRC did not have any records in their possessions. 

It was only after I found the following records in my possession 

to these days. One, the Philippine Army Discharge Certificate 

dated 24 May 1946; two, Army of the United States Discharge Certificate dated 12 December 1946; three, Report of Medical Examination dated 23 February 1966; Verification of Military Retiree in 

Service Non-Wartime Campaigns and Expeditions dated 27 March 

1975. 

Mr. Chairman, I respectfully request that the VA Secretary 

should recognize the deserving claimants of the 4,500 remaining 

who have appealed to the VA denials of officials as they show or 

one of them my comrade here, Mr. Almeda. 

Philippine Commonwealth Army, authentic discharge military 

papers as certified by the Philippine Government Veterans Affairs 

Administration or Adjutant General’s Office. Filipino guerrillas 

whose names are on the recognized roster agreed by the U.S. Army 

and provide proof of their identity as certified by the Philippine 

Government Veterans Affairs Administration or Adjutant General’s 

Office. Have no significant information, questioning their loyalty— 

their loyalty during World War II. 

Dr. HECK. Mr. Baltazar, I have to ask you to try to close up if 

you can, so we can get to Mr. Lachica and ask some questions. I 

hate to do that to you sir, but you need to kind of finish up if you 

could with your statement. 

Mr. BALTAZAR. Pardon me. 

VOICE. Finish your presentation. 

Mr. BALTAZAR. Application? 
24 

VOICE. Finish your presentation. 

Mr. BALTAZAR. Oh, yes, yes, yes. Mr. Chairman, I ask respectfully request that VA’s Secretary should recognize the deserving 

claimants of the 4,500 remaining veterans who have appealed to 

the VA—appealed, the denials of the VA officials. If they show a 

Philippine Commonwealth authentic discharge papers as certified 

by the Philippine Government Veterans Affairs Administration or 

General Office. 

Filipino guerrillas whose names are on the recognized roster 

agreed to by the U.S. Army and provide proof of other identity as 

certified by the Philippine Government Veterans Affairs Administrators or Administrative Office. 

These two requirements must be met before their applications 

may be heard. I look forward to answer the questions, Mr. Chairman. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Baltazar can be found in the Appendix on page 57.] 

Dr. HECK. Thank you Mr. Baltazar. Mr. Lachica, we will look to 

you to wrap it up for the panel and then, we will get you some 

questions. 

STATEMENT OF ERIC LACHICA, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, 

AMERICAN COALITION FOR FILIPINO VETERANS, INC. 

Mr. LACHICA. Thank you. Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman and 

Ranking Member Tsongas and members of the committee. My 

name is Eric Lachica, volunteer executive director of the American 

Coalition for Filipino Veterans, a non-profit organization based 

here in Arlington, Virginia. 

Over the past two decades as Mr. Almeda said, we have been lobbying Congress with the help of our champions, Daniel Inouye in 

the Senate and Senator Akaka, and their colleagues in the House. 

I would like to recognize, sir, Congressman Benjamin Gilman who 

has been a big champion of a Filipino—champion for the World 

War II veterans and Bob Filner and Daryl Issa and sympathetic 

staff of the White House of the Clinton-Bush administrations and 

to all the Members here who have been our sponsors over the years 

for our bills in Congress. 

We would like to thank our allies, the VFW [Veterans of Foreign 

Wars], American Legion, and DAV [Disabled American Veterans] 

and community partners like the National Federation of FilipinoAmerican Associations that led to victories like full burial benefits 

in 2000, full war-related disability compensation in 2001, and VA 

healthcare in 2003, and the Filipino Veterans Equity Compensation 

Law in 2009. And many of you were there to help get those bills 

passed. 

So it is my honor to help Mr. Almeda and Mr. Baltazar in this— 

in the interest of their comrades who are not here today and the 

sons and daughters who are in the room with us. The eligibility 

issue at hand is very dear to me because my dad also got a hard 

time when he was alive getting healthcare benefits back in the 

1980s. Luckily for us because of the laws we passed earlier, he and 

my mom are buried in National Cemetery in Riverside, California, 

in the National Cemetery, thank you very much. 
25 

So, I would like to just jump as—you have my written testimony 

and to address two issues, which I think will go to the heart of the 

matter. Mr. Almeda’s case is a classic example that happens to 

many of our veterans. He has full documentation and we just realized over the past weekend why the Army directs the NPRC, the 

National Personal Records Center to deny service. 

And this—I explain this in my email to some of your staff. For 

one thing even if they—for example this document, the NPRC documents of Mr. Almeda, which we only got 2 years ago. This was 

withheld from Mr. Almeda over the past 20, 30 years. I was trying 

to figure out, why was the NPRC who were instructed by the Army 

not to do so. 

It is in my opinion, thanks to the earlier research done by the 

interagency working group of the White House in de-classifying 

that U.S. Army recognition process, which was secret. I think we 

know why now, this afternoon, for one thing Mr. Almeda got this 

in his records in NPRC, it took us almost 3 or 4 years just to get 

that in 2012. 

It says, Mr. Almeda who got on the Recovered Personnel Division 

was supposed to be issued his document. All right, it says right 

there, subject individual was a member of the Philippine Army ordered into the service of the Armed Forces of the United States. 

Okay. Why was—why did NPRC not give this to Mr. Almeda 

until 2 years ago? It took the [unintelligible] of the Philippine Embassy, we had to personally appeal to the Mr. Levins and Mr. Scott 

there, to give Mr. Almeda his records. They confirmed that there 

were records, all right. 

And one thing about this record is that it confirms something 

amiss. Mr. Almeda was supposed to be paid. He was supposed to 

be paid 3,000 pesos for his back pay. And a check was issued, item 

number three, of 6,000 pesos. That is a lot of dollars back then. 

That is about $3,000, 1948 dollars, okay. 

Guess what? Never—Mr. Almeda never got that check or got 

paid for his back pay. 

Mr. ALMEDA. Who are they—who received this money? I didn’t 

receive it, I don’t have it in my record. 

Mr. LACHICA. And we only realized this weekend, when we were 

doing our research. Who is this C.D. Sullivan, who was the Assistant Director of the Camp Murphy? He had to file this form. Who 

got the money? Where is the check? 

Now that is one issue. The bottom line here upon research, 

thanks to the efforts of the interagency working group, the White 

House, and General Taguba in the room. They finally got out—they 

got this de-classified, the U.S Army Recognition Program, the Philippine Guerrillas. 

You know, why there are so many Filipino veterans in my opinion are being denied because some of their American officers who 

served—who recognized them got into a fight with U.S. Army. 

These four names mentioned, and guess what, those four American 

officers, their Filipino soldiers were recognized, were paid, then the 

recognition revoked and that is the bottom line of the U.S. Army 

de-classified report. 

One of them was one of our leaders, Colonel Edwin Ramsey, he 

is a World War II hero. He was the last American cavalry man to 
26 

lead a charge against the Japanese invaders on a horse in the Philippines. He was buried in the National Cemetery in Arlington 

Cemetery last year. 

He has a Filipino wife in Los Angeles and guess what, because 

of that Army in-fighting back then about who is going to be recognized, they claim this secret U.S. Army recognition program document that Mr. Ramsey engaged—what does it say here—of fraud 

basically of getting Filipino veterans. 

The guy is dead, all right. And he is a hero. They could have resolved this, but why did they keep it secret? Why did they keep Mr. 

Almeda secret or is the general here? Is he still, you know—he 

should answer these questions; why did the Army come out with 

a recognition program with no authors? 

There are no authors on this document, which basically revokes 

recognition of at least 40,000. It says right there—24,000 of Colonel 

Ramsey’s folks and almost 35,000. See that is—I think a big, big 

issue that they haven’t been upfront about us. They could have told 

us, ‘‘Hey, if you are affiliated with certain American officers like 

Colonel Ramsey, you might have been recognized in 1945, 1946, 

1947.’’ Guess what, they were taken off the list—so-called list, 

these guerrillas. 

Now, I just want to bring this to attention of the committee, we 

have to get straight answers, we can’t afford the Army to besmirch 

the reputations of at least 40,000 Filipino veterans. Who have— 

many of these who have applied and were denied. 

So, I would like to close, Mr. Chairman, we would like your committee to investigate this issue further. Why the Army have been 

making all of these secret allegations against World War II heroes 

like Colonel Ramsey. Denying Filipino veterans a copy of their 

records that they have, saying it is not compatible with our archives. 

We had to complain to President Obama himself, to the Vice 

President which Mr. Almeda met with, to get the attention of 

NPRC. I would like to recognize Mr. Levins and Scott for taking 

pity basically on Mr. Almeda, of releasing his folder because they 

knew that something was amiss, the NPRC. 

That the Army was not treating our veterans right. So, I would 

like to appeal to the committee that look into this, that is 40,000 

of us of our veterans. Thank you very much, sir. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Lachica can be found in the Appendix on page 64.] 

Dr. HECK. Thanks Mr. Lachica. And I want to thank both of the 

gentlemen who provided testimony for their service. Mr. Baltazar, 

I can only hope I look half as good as you do when I hit 93. But 

thank you for your service, thank you for taking the time to be 

here to tell your stories and to put a face to this problem that we 

are trying to tackle here on this committee. 

I have no questions for the panel. I yield my time to Ms. Tsongas. 

Ms. TSONGAS. Yes. I want to thank you, Mr. Almeda and Mr. 

Baltazar, for making so very real in your testimony the issues that 

we have been trying to address here today. And I want to thank 

Congressman Heck for organizing and holding this hearing, and it 
27 

obviously merits further attention. And I thank you so much for 

being here, but I also have no questions. 

Dr. HECK. Ms. Duckworth. 

Ms. DUCKWORTH. I also have no questions. But I wanted to 

thank Mr. Almeda and Mr. Baltazar for being here today and for 

your hard work. You are still looking out for your buddies and your 

comrades and I thank you for that, and I am just deeply awed by 

your presence. 

Dr. HECK. Ms. Bordallo. 

Ms. BORDALLO. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I too would like 

to go on any kind of if we decide to introduce legislation to expand 

this, to look at it again, because as they said earlier really, by law 

it was finished at 2010, is that correct? 

Yes, no longer. I want to thank Mr. Almeda and Mr. Baltazar 

and of course, you, Mr. Lachica, for your testimony. And it is really 

shocking to hear that, you know, you have records here that show 

moneys and checks to be distributed and nothing was done. 

I mean, it is—I am sure Mr. Chairman will be looking into this. 

And Mr. Chairman, I would like to be a part of any legislation that 

is introduced, to be a part of it because I have so many Filipino 

friends on Guam and—— 

Dr. HECK. Okay. There being no questions, I want to thank everybody for attending and for your participation. We will continue 

to look into this matter. The hearing stands adjourned. 

[Whereupon, at 4:20 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.] 

A P P E N D I X 

JUNE 24, 2014 

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DOCUMENTS SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD 

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WITNESS RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS ASKED DURING 

THE HEARING 

JUNE 24, 2014 

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RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY DR. HECK 

General MACEWEN. Civilian guerrillas are eligible for the Filipino Veterans Equity Compensation provided they meet the criteria established by the Army for Philippine Guerrillas, which means the claimant served full time in a unit that was recognized by the Army, and there is a claim folder and roster on file to verify service. 

The Adjutant General Office Form 23 includes a box check for Civilian Guerrilla 

which allows a claimant to request verification of service based solely on this status.

[See page 13.] 

Mr. FLOHR. In February 2010, the Manila Regional Office began manually tracking reasons for denial of FVEC claims. However, the Manila RO does not record 

whether FVEC claims were filed by Veterans or family members. Obtaining this information would be cost-prohibitive, requiring a manual review of over 23,000 FVEC 

claims that were denied. [See page 16.] 

QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY MEMBERS POST HEARING 

JUNE 24, 2014 

(95) 

QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY MS. BORDALLO 

Ms. BORDALLO. You advocate for this committee to produce legislation that directs 

that alternative documentation should be recognized, and standardized criteria 

should be set to verify service for payment under the FVEC law. What about what 

Army or the NPRC can do at this time? The onus is on you as the keeper of the 

lists and the process to ensure that these claims and the appeals are expeditiously 

processed given the ages of the Filipino veterans. Is there anything that can be done 

administratively that could improve the consideration of alternative documentation 

provided by claimants? 

General MACEWEN. I firmly believe there is nothing more the Army or the National Personnel Records Center can do internally at this time to improve the process. Yes, we are the keeper of the lists and the process, and yes, it is our responsibility to ensure that claims and appeals are expeditiously processed, but we believe 

we are executing this function to a very high standard. When a former or current 

U.S. Soldier presents a claim to the Army Board for Correction of Military Records, 

the highest level Board and only Board which exists today in the U.S. Army authorized to change a Soldier’s official record, the Board looks for and accepts official documents which can be authenticated to justify changing the Soldier’s record. This 

Board would not accept a hand-written note from a deceased commander; nor would 

it accept any document that could not be proven authentic. Throughout the 

verification process, we must ensure a certain level of integrity exists throughout 

the entire process; otherwise, the confidence in the process is lost. The introduction 

of new documents and information outside of the current process would make it 

even more difficult, if not impossible, to validate the authenticity of such documents 

today. 

Ms. BORDALLO. In your testimony, you are also asking that the committee provide 

for a separate and expedited appeals process, and there are multiple bills circulating 

that address some facet of fixing the FVEC administration and appeals processes. 

Well, we appreciate that and will do what we can in this committee, but what about 

what can be done now by the Army, the VA, and the NPRC? 

General MACEWEN. I cannot answer for the Veterans Administration specifically; 

however, the Army, the National Personnel Records Center, and the Veterans Administration, as a whole and independently, are each committed to executing our 

roles in this process to the highest standard possible. The Army, National Personnel 

Records Center and the Veterans Administration have partnered to ensure we provide timely and accurate processing of these claims, as well as providing greater 

transparency to the requesters. We look forward to working with the Committee if 

legislation is passed to modify the existing process. However, at the completion of 

a thoughtful, deliberate collaboration as conducted during the Filipino Veterans Equity Compensation Fund Interagency Working Group (comprised of the Department 

of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Defense, and the National Archives and 

Record Administration), which was specifically tasked with analyzing the process 

faced by Filipino Veterans in demonstrating eligibility for compensation, we have 

found no substantial or efficiency-gaining enhancements that could be injected into 

the current process without compromising the overall verification process. 

Ms. BORDALLO. Could you describe how an expedited appeals process would work, 

and if there’s anything that can be done with the current process internally that 

would improve the response time, even before it gets to the BVA? 

General MACEWEN. As the Army’s agent to verify service for Filipino Veterans, 

the National Personnel Records Center strives to complete all requests under the 

Filipino Veterans Equity Compensation Fund in 10 days or less. They are also committed to reviewing cases a second, third, or fourth time if there is new information 

that leads to a corresponding claim folder or roster. We believe that the current 

process is sound, and cannot offer any changes to the internal operating procedure 

that might improve the response time. 

Ms. BORDALLO. General MacEwen, in your testimony, you assert that your ‘‘Guerrilla Recognition Program,’’ which is the basis for your service verification process, 

is robust and thorough. And I have full faith that at the time, the compilation of 

the 1948 list was as thorough as the Army had intended. 
96 

It has come to the attention of many of us that there are unusual cases of claimants to the FVEC where decisions do not seem consistent. One veteran, Romeo de 

Fernandez was denied FVEC because there is no record of his service with the 

NPRC, though he was awarded a P–O–W medal, and has been receiving serviceconnected disability compensation from the VA. Another veteran, Mr. Ciriaco Cruz 

was denied FVEC even if NPRC found a verification of his military service. Mr. 

Ceferino Palad, also a veteran, received FVEC, but his claim for service-connected 

and pension benefits were denied. These are just three of many Filipino veterans 

who have been denied pension benefits with these inconsistencies. 

I quote your testimony: ‘‘It is not possible for the Army to conduct a better, more 

detailed, and more thorough investigation today than that which was conducted between 1942 and 1948.’’ 

Could you explain then, that with a robust list and a process that you have determined does not need changing, why such discrepancies exist? When even my iPhone 

software needs to be updated every few months, how can a process established in 

1948 not need improvements? 

General MACEWEN. I am not in a position to address the merits of the three cases 

you cited. Those specific claims appear to be within the purview of the Veterans Administration. Although the Army, National Personnel Records Center, and Veterans 

Administration work together in executing our roles to process claims for the Filipino Veterans Equity Compensation Fund, we still maintain complete independence 

in making determinations specific to our responsibilities and authority. 

Each agency is a steward of the government’s resources and each will be held accountable accordingly; thus, we are not expected to agree on 100% of the cases 100% 

of the time, and we welcome new information at all levels and in every part of the 

process. 

Again, the Veterans Administration is best equipped to answer this question as 

they have overall ownership of both functions. The Army stands by to provide additional information and/or clarify the information provided. 

Ms. BORDALLO. How does the NPRC or the BVA make the determination whether 

or not a claim contains information compatible with the NPRC archives? 

Mr. LEVINS. Thank you for your follow-up questions concerning the role of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), and specifically its National 

Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in referencing records to authenticate service determinations made by the Department of the Army regarding Filipino nationals who 

supported the United States Army Forces in the Far East, including those who 

served in guerrilla units, during World War II. 

Before addressing the specific questions, it may be helpful to clarify the role of 

NARA and specifically NPRC in the verification process. The NPRC serves as an 

agent for the U.S. Army, providing storage and reference services for records of the 

U.S. Army. Among the Army records held by NPRC are claim folders pertaining to 

Filipino nationals, which were adjudicated by the U.S. Army after World War II, 

and unit rosters created by the U.S. Army in conjunction with its recognition program. NPRC does not make service determinations but rather reviews the records 

described above to authenticate claims previously adjudicated by the U.S. Army. 

Most often, this is done in response to requests from the Department of Veterans 

Affairs regarding compensation claims. 

NARA has also preserved records of historical value documenting events that 

transpired in the Philippines during and after World War II. Included are records 

describing actions taken by the U.S. Army to recognize the service of Filipino nationals who supported the United States Army Forces in the Far East, including 

those who served in guerrilla units. These original records are available for public 

review at the National Archives Building in College Park, Maryland. 

Regarding this specific question, in authenticating guerrilla service, NPRC reviews the information provided from the claimant to identify the responsive claim 

folder. The claim folders are arranged alphabetically by subject name. In searching 

for the responsive claim folder, NPRC considers alternate spellings of the subject’s 

name. Once a claim folder has been located, its contents are examined by a technician. In this examination, the technician is looking for an affidavit (AGO Form 23) 

submitted to the Army during its post-war recognition program. If an affidavit is 

located, the technician retrieves the corresponding unit roster and attempts to locate 

a matching name on the roster. If the corresponding unit roster includes a matching 

name, the service is authenticated. The process for authenticating service in the 

Philippine Commonwealth Army is similar, but allows for consideration of additional documentary evidence in the claim folder in instances where the subject’s 

name does not appear on a roster. 

The term ‘‘archives’’ is used in a generic sense to refer to the rosters created as 

a result of the Army’s post war recognition program, as opposed to permanent 
97 

records which have been legally accessioned into the National Archives of the 

United States. A claim is deemed to contain information ‘‘compatible with the archives’’ where a claim folder contains acceptable documentation that matches information appearing on a corresponding unit roster. As described above, this is the 

threshold that must be met to authenticate guerrilla service. The process for authenticating service in the Philippine Commonwealth Army is similar, but allows for 

consideration of additional documentary evidence in the claim folder in instances 

where the subject’s name does not appear on a roster. While NPRC provides reference services required to authenticate prior service determinations, it does not adjudicate claims or appeals. Questions about proceedings before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals should be directed to the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

Ms. BORDALLO. The case of veteran Mr. Gaudencio Pablo indicates that this was 

the first instance that official Army documents at the National Archives were used 

to determine Mr. Pablo’s service after the NPRC initially could not verify Mr. 

Pablo’s claim. Is it necessary for a veteran to have to appeal to the BVA, given that 

there are existing records that could augment the 1948 list? 

Mr. LEVINS. Thank you for your follow-up questions concerning the role of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), and specifically its National 

Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in referencing records to authenticate service determinations made by the Department of the Army regarding Filipino nationals who 

supported the United States Army Forces in the Far East, including those who 

served in guerrilla units, during World War II. 

Before addressing the specific questions, it may be helpful to clarify the role of 

NARA and specifically NPRC in the verification process. The NPRC serves as an 

agent for the U.S. Army, providing storage and reference services for records of the 

U.S. Army. Among the Army records held by NPRC are claim folders pertaining to 

Filipino nationals, which were adjudicated by the U.S. Army after World War II, 

and unit rosters created by the U.S. Army in conjunction with its recognition program. NPRC does not make service determinations but rather reviews the records 

described above to authenticate claims previously adjudicated by the U.S. Army. 

Most often, this is done in response to requests from the Department of Veterans 

Affairs regarding compensation claims. 

NARA has also preserved records of historical value documenting events that 

transpired in the Philippines during and after World War II. Included are records 

describing actions taken by the U.S. Army to recognize the service of Filipino nationals who supported the United States Army Forces in the Far East, including 

those who served in guerrilla units. These original records are available for public 

review at the National Archives Building in College Park, Maryland. 

Regarding this specific question, NPRC has in its holdings multiple claim folders 

pertaining to individuals named Gaudencio Pablo. Based on a review of each folder, 

it appears your question concerns Mr. Gaudencio Pagaduan Pablo, as this is the 

only Gaudencio Pablo that has been the subject of recent reference requests from 

the Department of Veterans Affairs. Over the years, NPRC and the Department of 

the Army (before this function was transferred to NPRC) have responded to at least 

seven requests for authentication of Mr. Pablo’s prior service. Based on the documents they reviewed, neither NPRC nor the Department of the Army was able to 

authenticate Mr. Pablo’s prior service. 

In instances where a claimant’s prior service could not be authenticated, NPRC 

remains willing to re-examine its holdings and to make additional efforts to authenticate service. NPRC will undertake these efforts regardless of whether the individual has submitted a formal appeal to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals involving 

a claim for Department of Veterans’ Affairs benefits. However, unless new information is provided by the requester, such as a different spelling of the name or the 

use of an alias during the period of service, the outcome is likely to be the same. 

While NPRC provides reference services required to authenticate prior service determinations, it does not adjudicate claims or appeals. Questions about proceedings before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals should be directed to the Department of Veterans’ Affairs. 

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