By AUDREY McAVOY
Associated Press Writer

HONOLULU (AP) _ Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack
Obama supports a bill that would award pension benefits to
Filipinos who fought under the U.S. flag during World War II when
their country was a U.S. colony.

Obama issued a statement this week urging his colleagues to
provide the veterans with the recognition he says they deserve.

"Approximately 250,000 Filipino troops joined American forces
to fight in World War II, but too many of these heroes are still
being denied benefits," said the statement, which was dated Monday
and appeared on his campaign Web site.

The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee already has passed a broad
bill that includes the benefit measure. The full Senate has yet to
vote on the legislation.

The committee's ranking Republican, Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C.,
opposes the Filipino veterans measure. He's submitted an
alternative bill that excises that portion of the legislation,
saying the government should instead spend its money on veterans
returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

"Senator Burr believes the special pension for Filipino
veterans is the wrong priority for taxpayer dollars at a time of
war," said his spokesman, Chris Walker.

Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, the committee chairman and a U.S.
veteran of World War II, backs the Filipino veterans bill.

The veterans, who are now in their 80s, joined units under U.S.
command at a time when U.S. law mandated that all Philippine
citizens owe allegiance to the U.S. The law also stipulated U.S.
control over Philippine national defense and foreign affairs.

After the war, however, Congress passed the Rescission Act of
1946, stripping Filipino veterans of their status as U.S. veterans.
The move denied Filipinos the same benefits available to other
veterans of U.S. military service.

Filipino-American veterans, now in their 80s, have campaigned
for decades to win the benefits they were promised. They've had
some victories, including when Congress passed a bill allowing
thousands to immigrate and become U.S. citizens. Burial rights in
national cemeteries came a decade later.

In 2003, President George W. Bush signed a bill making
Filipino-American veterans in the United States eligible for the
same federal health care other American veterans receive.

The latest measure seeks to give pension benefits to Filipino
veterans living in the Philippines.

Akaka's office said it would award $3,600 per year to each
individual veteran, or $4,500 per year to each married veteran.

The provision would cost an estimated $24 million in its first
year and less each year after that.

Akaka told the Senate earlier this month some 18,000 Filipino
World War II veterans survive today and that only a few will remain
in another decade.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/02/28/america/NA-POL-US-Obama-Filipino-Veterans.php