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TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISOR
�: ---' Costa
FROM- Supervisor Joe Canciamilla County
Supervisor Donna Gerber
DATE: November 3, 1998
SUBJECT: Consider Adoption of the Atte Resolution Declaring Support of the 1997 Filipino-America
Veterans of World War If Equity Acts(HR 836 and SS 623)
SPECIFIC REQUEST($)OR RECOMMENDATION(S)AND JUSTIFICATION
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Support the 1997 Filipino-America Veterans of World War 11 Equity Acts(HB 836 and SB 623)if approved by the Board of
Supervisors,direct the Clerk of the Board to send copies of the signed and certified resolution to the President of the
United States, California's Senatorial and Congressional Representatives,as well as the State's Legislative Delegation.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
See the attached resolution.
SIGNATURE: ?s
r
i
CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: YES SIGNATURE:
RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION; FARD COMMITTEE
APPROVE OTHER
SIGNATURE(S)
ACTION OF BOARD ON November 3 1998 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED: XX OTHER:
VOTE OF SUPERVISORS:
_ XX UNANIMOUS(ABSENT - - - - -- -- )
AYES: NOES:
1 HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE AND CORRECT COPY
OF AN ACTION TAKEN AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF
ABSENT: ABSTAIN: THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN.
ATTESTED
November 3 - .lam
PHIL BATCHELOR,CLERK OF THE BOARD OF
SUPERVISORS ANC! ADMINISTRATOR
)k& r
BY AAAA,
EP
The Board of Supervisors
of Contra Costa County
In the Matter of Resolution No. 9 8/5 8 4
SUPPORTING THE 1937 FILIPINO-AMERICA
VETERANS OF WORLD WAR 1I EQUITY ACTS
(HR 836 AND SB 623)
WHEREAS,the 1997 Filipino-America Veterans of World War II Equity Acts(HR 836 and
SB 623)have been introduced and calendared by the United States Congress;and
WHEREAS,on July 26, 1941,President Franklin Roosevelt called back to active duty
Lieutenant General Douglas MacArthur who was then serving as military advisor to the Commonwealth
government in the Philippines. President Roosevelt appointed General MacArthur to command the
newly formed United States Armed Forces in the Far East(USAFE); and
WHEREAS, General MacArthur mobilized the entire Philippine Commonwealth Army,
consisting of approximately 213,000 soldiers, into the USAFE and reinforced approximately 10,000
American soldiers, including the 10,000 strong Philippine Scouts(who were the Filipino regulars in the
American army)and the 6,000 strong Philippine Constabulary,under the command of American military
forces: and
WHEREAS,within days,Japanese troops landed in Aparri and Vigan,in Legazpi and Davao,
in Lingayen,Atimonan,and Mauban,while their planes bombed military objectives and government
centers. Within a few weeks,the American and Filipino forces defending.Luzon were in full retreat to
the stronghold where General MacArthur proposed to make a last stand on the peninsula of Bataan and
the island fortress of Corregidor;and
WHEREAS,in the ensuing months Japanese Imperial Forces in the Philippines focused all
their military might against the USAFE in Battan and Corregidor; and
WHEREAS,Hong Kong, Singapore,and the East Indies(Indonesia)fell before the fierce
Japanese advance in the week following the attack on Pearl Harbor. The soldiers in the Philippines,
under the command of Lieutenant General Jonathan Wainright, fought on. Their valiant struggle,the
only Allied resistance in East Asia during the winter and spring of 1942 slowed down the enemy and
gave Australia more time to strengthen its defenses;and
WHEREAS,BataRan fell on April 9, 1942. Corregidor's Voice of Freedom radio station
announced,`Bataan has fallen,but the spirit that made it stand as a beacon to all the liberty laving
peoples of the world cannot fall." As many as 36,000 Filipino and American soldiers were captured by
the victorious Japanese Forced to set out on the infamous"Death March"to San Fernando,tens of
thousands died from hunger,thirst,disease,and exhaustion. Survivors were crammed into boxcars and
shipped to imprisonment in Capas; and
WHEREAS,many Filipino officers and men refused to heed the order to surrender. They fled
to the hills with their arms and with the help of the civilian population,waged a relentless guerrilla war
against the invaders. The guerillas, almost without arms at the beginning,hungry,and unclothed gave
battle to the enemy from every nook and corner of the land For three seemingly interminable years and
despite unbelievable hardships,they carried the torch of freedom;and
WHEREAS, in 1942,Congress reestablished the policy it had set forth during the first World
War by providing for the naturalization of aliens honorably serving in the armed forces of the United
States during the war. As part of the second War Powers Act,Congress waived the requirements of
residence,literacy and education for alien soldiers. The law allowed any alien who was inducted or who
enlisted into the United States Army,Navy,or Air Force during World War II to become a United States
citizen; and
WHEREAS,while the Philippine was under Japanese occupation,approximately 7,000
Filipino soldiers naturalized outside the Philippines. The great majority of Filipino soldiers in the
country,however,were not even aware of these liberal naturalization benefits. The United States
withdrew its naturalization officer from the Philippines for nine months and then allowed the law to lapse
in 1946,so few Filipino veterans were able to exercise their rights in a timely manner rights that had
been supposedly earned on the battlefield for a lifetime; and
Resolution 98/584
WHEREAS,although the Immigration Act of 1990 rectified this foreclosure of rights by
permitting Filipino veterans of World War H to apply for naturalization and to receive benefits after May
1, 1991,it did not remedy the betrayal of Filipino veterans orchestrated forty-five years earlier by a cost
conscious country through the Rescission Act of 12946 and the Second Supplemental Surplus
Appropriation Rescission Act(194+6),which declared that the service performed by many Filipino
veterans was not"active service"and denied them their veterans benefits after the fact;and
WHEREAS,while Filipino-American veterans who served honorably in an active duty status
under the command of the USAFE or within the Philippine Army,the Philippine Scouts,or recognized
guerrilla units,between September 1, 1939,and December 31, 1946,braved the same dangers and were
entitled to apply for naturalization only those persons who served in the armed forces of the United
States or joined the Philippine Scouts before October 6, 1945,currently are entitled to the full range of
veterans benefits;and
WHEREAS,it should be the right of every Filipino-American veteran of World War II,who
served honorably in an active duty status under the command of the USAFE or within the Philippine
Army,the Philippine Scouts,or recognized guerrilla units,to receive the full range of veterans benefits,
including,but not limited to,a nonservice disability burial allowance and pension,treatment for
nonservice connected disabilities at Veterans Hospitals in the United States,home loan guarantees,burial
in a national or state veterans cemetery and headstones,contract national service life insurance and
educational assistance for spouses and surviving spouses; and
WHEREAS,there is no greater duty for a nation of free men and women than:the care of
former soldiers and their dependants,no greater honor for a former soldier than to be laid to rest next to
the soldier's comrades in arms,no greater act of respect that a grateful country can show a former soldier
than to inter the soldier's remains on hallowed ground,and no greater tribute that future generations of
freedom loving Americans can visit upon a former soldier than to remember those sacrifices made by the
solider on the battlefield;ands
WHEREAS,in the words of President Abraham Lincoln,upon the establishment of the of the
Veterans Administration(now the United States Department of Veterans Affairs)this country has a
sacred duty"to care for him who shall have borne the battle,and for his widow and his orphan";and
awarding the full-range of veterans benefits to former soldiers is the very least that a grateful nation can
do for those persons who placed themselves in harm's way to protect the United States from its enemies.
NOW,THEREFORE,BE IT RESOLVED that the Board of Supervisors of the County of
Contra Costa,California,hereby affirms their supporting the 1997 Filipino-America Veterans of World
War II Equity Acts range of veterans benefits;
BE IT FURTHER.RESOLVED THAT copies of this resolution shall be sent to the White
House,to California's Senatorial and Congressional representatives,as well as California's legislative
delegation.
PASSED by unanimous vote of the Board Members present on this 3rd day of November, 1998.
Witness my hand and the Seal of the Board of
Supervisors affixed on this 3rd day of
November, 1998.
PHIL BATCHELOR, Clerk of the Board of
Supervisors and County Administrator
By:
Deputy
Introduced by:
Iso osep ciamllla,District V
Supervisor DodmeGerber,District III