PRESIDENT GLORIA MACAPAGAL ARROYO SIGNS PROPOSED FILIPINO WWII VETERANS PENSION AND BENEFITS ACT OF 2008 INTO A LAW.

PILAR, BATAAN—President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed today into a law the Filipino World War II Veterans Pension and Benefits Act of 2008, which stipulates that Filipino WWII veterans will continue to
receive the pension they are getting now even in the event the Filipino Veterans Equity Bill is passed by the US Congress.

The Filipino Veterans Equity Bill calls on the United States government to extend benefits to Filipino veterans for their wartime services.

The signing took place at the end of the President's speech during the 66th Araw ng Kagitingan celebration this morning at the Mt. Samat Shrine in Pilar, Bataan.

Filipino war veterans, US Ambassador Kristie Kenney, Japanese Ambassador Makoto Katsura, Sen. Richard Gordon, who sponsored the measure in the Senate; and Cong. Jose Solis, one of the sponsors in the House of Representatives, witnessed the signing of the bill into law.

The new law, which amends Sections 10 and 11 of RA No. 6948, allows Filipino WW II veterans to continue receiving their P5,000 monthly old-age pension from the Philippine government even if the US
government would grant them additional benefits in the event the Filipino Veterans Equity Bill is approved buy the US Senate.

The President said that she is sending this month a Philippine delegation to the US to lobby for the passage of the legislative measure filed, which has been pending in the US Congress since 1955.

"A joint Philippine executive-legislative delegation including Senator Gordon and Congressman Solis will leave this month to lobby for its passage. And we will begin our lobbying with Ambassador Kristie Kenney right here in Mt. Samat," the President said.

Defense Undersecretary Ernesto Carolina said the US Senate version of the Filipino Veterans Equity Bill seeks to provide Filipino veterans with a monthly pension of between $300 and $350, while the US House of
Representatives version of the measure calls for a higher monthly pension of $500-$550.

The President said that because of the economic reforms implemented by her administration, the government was able to start paying the arrearages on the unpaid pension of Filipino WWII veterans in 2005.