The Friday after Memorial Day three brave Filipino World War II veterans filed a lawsuit (De Fernandez vs. VA, et al) against the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs before the Federal District Court in San Francisco CA. The impetus for filing by these plaintiffs was the denial of their veterans’ equity compensation of $15,000 despite their proven qualifying services during World War II.
VA’s rationale for the denial of their claims is that these veterans’ names are not found on the “Missouri List” which is considered an authoritative source of reference for veterans. These war heroes and those similarly situated condemn the injustice in the lawsuit that was filed. VA very well knows that a 1973 fire at the National Personnel Record Center destroyed the “Missouri List” which contains 16 to 18 million official military personnel files. Most of those destroyed records are of personnel who were discharged from November 1, 1912 to January 1, 1960.
Aside from the fire, there are also those veterans who are not on list as they were dissuaded from putting their names on it. These veterans feared that the Japanese military might gain access to that information and put them and their families at risk of being killed during the war. This is a historical fact verified by testimonies of American veterans who fought side by side with the Filipino veterans.
The Plaintiffs
Three Fil-Am veterans and a non-profit organization are the named plaintiffs in this lawsuit. Mr. Romeo de Fernandez is a 91-year old veteran who was granted US citizenship based on his services as a US soldier during WWII.
Plaintiff de Fernandez was a Bataan Death March survivor who was captured and incarcerated at Camp O’ Donell Concentration Camp in 1942. He has records and discharge documents from the US Army. He received medals for his valiant service one of which is the American Defense Service Medial with a bronze star.
Despite de Fernandez’s decorated military service, the VA denied his claim for Veterans Equity Compensation Fund because his name does not appear on the “Missouri list”.
The same case applies to Plaintiff Ciriaco Dela Cruz. He was naturalized as a US citizen based on his service to the US military. He was with the Batute Infantry Regiment, Bulacan Military Area, a Recognized Guerilla Unit. His military service was confirmed on February 14, 1992 by the Philippine government records, which certified that he is a “Sgt” on the approved Revised Reconstructed Guerilla Roster of the “H” Company Supplementary Roster. But just the same, his name is not on the “Missouri List” and VA denied his claim for the veterans equity compensation fund.
The San Francisco Veterans Equity Center joined the veterans as Plaintiff in this lawsuit. This non-profit organization, which helps veterans with their claims, received hundreds of claim denials based on the fact that the veterans’ names are not on the Missouri list. Records at the San Francisco Veterans Equity Center also shows that even veterans who are on the list are sometimes denied based on questioned loyalty.
One of the Plaintiffs, Valeriano C. Marcelino, 88 years old, is a naturalized US citizen whose qualifying service during the war is confirmed by the National Personnel Record Center. His name appears on the Missouri list. Yet, he received a notice of intent to deny his equity compensation based on the fact that the VA uncovered a copy of check from the ‘Yokohama Specie Bank Limited’ in the amount of P635 paid to “V. Marcelino”. Based on this check, the VA now assumes that “V. Marcelino” is, in fact, the same person as the plaintiff “Valeriano Marceino” and now is denying his application based on his questionable loyalty.
Plaintiff Marcelino is very much distressed by VA’s allegation; and, in the complaint that was filed, he states that he, “ did not received (sic) this check because I did not served (sic) any pro-Japanese, pro-German or any anti-American unit. Additionally, Marcelino has supplied a copy of the signature on the back of the subject check and as well as his own, true signature, which upon comparison are significantly different from one another. Furthermore, Marceline explained that being a farmer all of his life, he had never seen a check made to his name until he came to the United States and received his first SSI check.”
Continuing Injustice
A veterans’ advocates from Washington DC called me on the day the lawsuit was filed. She asked me when will I ever stop working on this veterans issue. I was appalled by this question and responded that the work continues “as long as there is this continuing injustice” that needs to be rectified.
When President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act on February 17, 2009, which contains this $198 million budget for the Filipino Veterans Equity Compensation fund, most veterans and their families were elated. This was a compromise legislation that would somehow ameliorate more than six decades of injustice.
An allocation of $15,000 for US citizen veterans and $9,000 for non-US citizen veterans appear to be a generous grant from the US government especially during an economic recession. But what seemingly was a positive gesture turned out to be a nightmare for thousands of veterans, like the plaintiffs in this case. Thousands have been denied their just benefits because their names do not appear on the Missouri list. The Veteran’s Affairs should desist from denying rightful claims and adopt more reasonable standards for approving their applications.
For many of these veterans, there is not enough time left. For some, time has already run out. Just the other day, a veteran’s relative informed me that his father’s $15,000 was finally received in the mail. The daughter did not know what to do with the check because the veteran had died a few days before the check was received. Many more veterans will undoubtedly suffer the same fate. How much more time does VA have to waste before rightfully adjudicating these claims?
(The Tancinco Law Offices and the Cotchett, Pitre and McCarthy firm jointly filed this class action lawsuit. Attorneys Pete McCloskey and Stuart Gross are the lead counsels. Copy of the complaint filed may be obtained from the www.cpmlegal.com. Tancinco may be reached at law@tancinco.com or at 887 7177)
