MANILA — Only 960 of around half a million Filipino World War II veterans are still alive, according to the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office.

They are entitled to monthly old age pension of P20,000 and free hospitalization at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center, according to PVAO Deputy Administrator Restituto Aguilar.

“Ito ay napakaliit na bilang na lang. Noong 1945 na mayroon tayong 260,000 na ni-recognize ng US government at saka iyong mga hindi na-recognize na may karapatan din namang mabigyan ng parangal ay 250,000,” he said on Wednesday in an interview on PTV’s Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon.

(This is such a small number. In 1945, there were 260,000 who were recognized by the US government. And there 250,000 who were not recognized by the US but who also deserved to be recognized.)

The Philippines was a US territory when Japan invaded in 1941 and until the end of the war in 1945. It regained independence in July 1946.

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Aguilar said the P20,000 monthly pension is "just enough" for the surviving veterans' medicines but said that the hospitalization benefit also helps.

“Kung sila ma’y nasa probinsiya, mayroon din kaming veterans' ward sa mga regional or public hospitals na mayroon kaming [Memorandum of Agreement] sa kanila na tatanggapin nila iyong mga beterano at kung anuman iyong kanilang bill pagkatapos ng hospitalization, of course kasama na doon iyong, PhilHealth at saka iba pa, [Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office] na deductions —  iyong natitira doon ay babayaran po ng PVAO,” Aguilar added.

(If they are in the provinces, there are also veterans' wards in our regional or public hospitals.)

RECORDS NOW AVAILABLE TO RESEARCHERS

PVAO called on researchers and writers to write World War II storied based on Filipinos’ perspective, adding that digitized records from the period are now uploaded on its website.

He said that most of the military history of World War II was written by the US, which took the records from the Philippines after the war.

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“So ito ngayon, noong 2015 at saka 2017, nagpadala kami ng teams para ma-digitize iyong lahat ng records na iyon doon sa US. Iyon ngayon uploaded na sa aming website, libre na ang lahat ng researchers, manunulat, mananaliksik para gumawa ng kasaysayan ng ating mga beterano ayon sa perspektibo ng isang Pilipino,”  he added.

(In 2015 and 2017, we sent teams to digitize the records in the US. These have been uploaded to our website and it's open to researchers, writers for them to record our veterans' histories from the Filipino perspective.)

The Philippines observes Veterans Week from April 5 to 11, “to promote, preserve, and memorialize the principles, ideals and deeds of war veterans as a means to enhance patriotism and love for country, especially among the youth”.

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