RP military hospital to get grant from US

STAR Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — It may not be much, but it’s a good start.

US Veterans Administration (USVA) chief Anthony Principi said a grant of $500,000 is likely to be given to the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) in Quezon City to benefit World War II veterans in the Philippines even before the passage of a new bill in the US Congress extending health care benefits to US-based Filipino veterans.

"Even before the bill is approved, I am beginning the process of, under my authority as Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, making a grant to the VMMC for $500,000 for (medical) equipment," Principi told The STAR after testifying before the House veterans affairs subcommittee on health.

Principi’s bottom line was this: At least $500,000 — and possibly more than that — would be granted to the VMMC for the purchase of health care equipment "as soon as I complete the paperwork and the necessary step that needs to be taken internal to my department."

The USVA had made an earlier grant for the VMMC, one that was conditional on it having enough funds for the grant. The apparent shift in his stand came as a veterans delegation from the Philippines complained about being left out in the cold under the new bill, "Health Care for Filipino World War II Veterans Act," filed in Congress.

The bill, HR 4904, proposes about $12 million annually for health care for the 11,000 Filipino veterans living in the US. It is expected to be approved by the US Congress and go into effect in October, the start of the fiscal year for 2003.

The bill also provides $500,000 for New Philippine Scouts in the US and $2.5 million as dependency indemnity compensation for widows of veterans, but ignores the 34,000 Filipino soldiers who fought for Uncle Sam in World War II but chose to stay in the Philippines.

About 50 aging Filipino veterans from all parts of the US showed up at the hearing to lobby for the new measure as a first step toward the ultimate goal of providing pensions and medical benefits to all Filipino veterans here and in the Philippines, as provided for under an earlier House bill, HR 491.

Hollywood actor Lou Diamond Philips, a US citizen whose mother is Filipino, was at the hearing to support the passage of HR 4904. He said he had five Filipino uncles who served in the US navy and considered it "not only my privilege, but my duty to speak for the Filipino veterans of World War II."

Also at the hearing was a delegation from the Philippines, including La Union Rep. Tomas Dumpit who chairs the House committee on veterans affairs and committee vice chairman Olongapo City Rep. James Gordon, and Col. Emmanuel de Ocampo, president of the Veterans Federation of the Philippines and Commodore Artemio Arugay, administrator of the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO).

The Philippine delegation was noticeably displeased at the exclusion of Philippine-based veterans from the bill.

"We deplore the fact that under the bill as presented, once again Filipino World War II veterans were not included," De Ocampo said in a press statement.

Gordon said that, no matter what happens to the US bill, his veterans affairs committee will file a resolution "asking President Arroyo to negotiate again with President Bush about the injustice being done to 34,000 veterans residing in the Philippines. I am sure she will be very receptive (to this idea)."

Despite the sour grapes, most of those present at the hearing agreed that HR 4904 is a step in the right direction and backed its passage. "We can use it as something to build on and try again next year," Gordon said.

Ambassador to Washington Alberto del Rosario was more emotional at the hearing in the presence of the Filipino veterans. Del Rosario said that, as a five-year-old boy, he had been seriously wounded and left for dead during the Liberation of Manila but was rescued by Filipino guerrillas, "much (like) the veterans we have here today."

The envoy said he had never been able to thank those who fought for a free Philippines for him and who had saved his life, "to express to them how much I value the gift of life, the gift of love and the gift of freedom." After uttering those words, Gordon faced the veterans and saluted them, his body ramrod straight and his salute precise and perfect - the kind of salute taught at military academies.

US House veterans affairs committee chairman Rep. Jerry Moran (Republican, Kansas) told Del Rosario he was the first ambassador to testify before a US House subcommittee.

Replying to queries from committee members, Del Rosario expressed gratitude for what the US Congress was doing for Filipino veterans in the United States and said this was a step forward. "But our position is we have to keep working to help Filipino veterans who remain in the Philippines," Del Rosario added.

Before the hearing, Del Rosario and the delegation from the Philippines met with Principi and urged the USVA chief to accelerate the approval and release of grant-in-aid funding of $500,000 to $2.5 million for the first year. These funds are earmarked for the upgrading of medical facilities at the VMMC to provide better medical care for Filipino World War II veterans in the Philippines who have only a few years left to them.

Principi told The STAR that "budgetary constraints require me to look very, very carefully at what our total needs are and then make a decision. I assured (Del Rosario) I would look into it."

The USVA chief said he hopes to make the grant to the VMMC annually: "When I leave the department someday, it may be discontinued, but I feel it is something that needs to be done and I intend to do it."