"Rhetoric is not enough."
Last April 9, the country celebrated Araw ng Kagitingan which was the day Filipino-American forces surrendered Bataan to the Japanese forces under the command of General Masaharu Homma. A month later, Corregidor also surrendered marking the end of organized resistance against the Japanese forces in the Philippines. First to fall was Hong Kong followed by Singapore on February of 1942.
With more than 50,000 Filipino Commonwealth troops and 12,000 American soldiers, it was the largest surrender of American forces in history but dwarfed by the 100,000 British Commonwealth forces who surrendered in Singapore which was also the largest in British history.
I never really figured out why we celebrate the defeat instead of the victory when Japan signed the instrument of unconditional surrender aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on Sept. 2, 1945. Is it to emphasize the sacrifices of our soldiers? The symbolism of celebrating defeat may also be a better reminder to us all that the country is prepared to do it all over again if called upon to make another sacrifice.
Today, the number of World War II veterans are dwindling very fast. Very soon, all of them will be gone. Like in the United States, the generation that fought in the Second World War was our greatest generation and they deserve more support before they are all finally gone. Those Filipino soldiers who were part of the United States armed forces have been supported well enough but there were those who also fought in the war who never got the recognition they deserve. Our government should find a way to support them also.
Today, there are other veterans other than World War 2 veterans deserving of assistance. Soldiers for instance who fought in the long anti-insurgency campaign and those retired service personnel who suffered service-related disabilities need more government support. This is why it is timely to ask the question whether the country has sufficiently taken care of its fighting men as they grow to old age. In spite of all the rhetoric every time the Araw ng Kagitingan is upon us, the record is not consistent. More still has to be done. In the United States, the Veterans Administration is one of the biggest bureaucracies in the Federal government if not the biggest. There are veterans’ hospitals all over the country. Veterans with disabilities are paid depending on the severity of the disability. In this country, we only have one veterans hospital located in Quezon City. There should be at least a veterans’ hospital in the three major island groupings. It is expensive and difficult to bring a sick veteran needing hospitalization from Mindanao to Quezon City. The ideal thing, of course, is to put up one hospital in every region to service veterans and their families.
Maybe a law could be passed to start the process.
The important thing is to start—and complete—the project, even if it takes time to finish. It must be said, however, that this year World War 2 veterans together with Korean and Vietnam War counterparts have been by a new law awarded a monthly additional pension of P20, 000. This however, cannot be passed on to the wife if the veteran dies. This is in place of the Php 5,000 that a veteran gets when he reaches 65 years old and Php 6,700 upon reaching 70 years of age.
The bigger P20,000 pension is intended to provide more help to the veteran in the twilight of their lives. All World War 2 veterans who are still alive must all be in their nineties. Korean War veterans on the other hand must be in their late eighties and early nineties while Vietnam War veterans must be in their late seventies and early eighties. Considering that the Filipino life expectancy is about 71, these veterans are living on borrowed time. The P20,000 additional pension should have included all those veterans who have reached the age of 70 and who fought in the anti-insurgency campaign beginning in the 1960s and those who fought in Mindanao secessionist campaign in the beginning of in the early 70s. They too are aging and can use more money just to keep up with their medical requirements.
Some members of Congress say that the next step will be to include other aging veterans but this will be in the future. RA 11164 should have included other senior veterans who also fought in the anti-insurgency and Mindanao secessionist campaigns and those with serious service-connected disabilities.
It must be said however, that this administration has done more for the soldiers and policemen and women than most administrations. The military and police retiree pension has also increased like those still in the active service and as reports have it, will be effective this 16th of April. The treatment of veterans must however, not be dependent on a President who happens to value or like men and women in uniform. All administrations must strive to take care of their fighting men to the fullest extent of the capabilities of the government. It is the only moral thing to do. Rhetoric every time we celebrate the Araw ng Kagitingan is not enough. It must be translated into action.
As shown in the public squabble between the House of Representatives and the Senate regarding pork barrel, the government is overflowing with money that they do not even know where to spend it. Money given to needy veterans will surely flow back to the economy unlike huge kickbacks being pocketed by unscrupulous government officials that end up in their bank accounts.