Senators debate Filipino veterans' pension measure

The Japanese got reparations for internment and the Koreans got citizenship for enlisting in the US Army. What does the Filipino get? Seems as tho they will die with nothing, yet they fought for the USA and gave their lives and no compensation for them or their families. The Bush Administration can ask for billions for the war but cannot take care of those that helped fight for the USA in WW11. A battle of history. Shame, Shame, Shame on those that deny them.

It is no coincidence that this news "breaks" right before the Hawaii Democrat Caucus. It is timed to manipulate Hawaii Filipinos in particular to support Hilary Clinton since she has been endorsed by One of this Bills perpetual advocates, Dan Akaka. No nothing will ever be done as long as the Democrats can whip up a frenzy when ever it is politically useful. The Democrats have more to gain by perpetually yanking the Filipino community around. If they actually passed this bill how could they control the Filipinos.
The National Democrats are using the same playbook that the local Democrats used for 50 years to yank the Hawaiians around with. Our Democrat legislators have used their position to appoint looters to the Bishop Estate, influence negatively DHHL as well as OHA. Our Democrats are a power mad group. Republican Governor Lingle has made almost as many homes and leases available to Hawaiians in the past 6 years as the previous 50 years of "compassionate" "progressive" Democratic "leadership". While the DOE/BOE has brainwashed all that the Missionaries are holding the Hawaiians back. If all the people who vote Democrat in Hawaii really cared they would vote ALL the Democrats out of office.

would it be different if they were white. when you join the service you expect that country will fufill their promises that was given.

Kalli, maybe you should read a a little bit of history about the Philippines before WWII, only then you will understand the veterans sentiments!!

America should be ashamed. Its amazing there is even any discussion on this matter. This was a promise by our government over half a century ago which we reneged on plain and simple. Most of the Filipinos that fought with us have died, most in poverty, its time we do what we promised, at least to those who remain. We can give so many benefits to those illegal aliens who penetrate our borders illegally at nite but cannot keep our bargain with those who helped us. Yes it was their land but we were virtually in possession of it. By fighting the Japanese there we didnt have to fight them here. I am a haole who has lived in Hawaii 44 years today, and over 6 mos of every year in the philippines. I know of what i speak.

Additionally to what i wrote, the senators who argue $3,600 is too much PER YEAR, ($300 per month) are out of touch with reality, that is only the cost of a middle to lower class 2 bedroom apt in Manila, i know for that is where i live when i'm there, and that is what i pay. i have always been a republican but this republican Senator Burr of N carolina does not make me proud to be a republican. He should take a fact finding trip before opening his mouth.

A promise is a promise. The U.S. would have never been able to win the war against fascism in the Pacific and the imperial fascist Japan army if not for these brave freedom fighters who fought in the underground resistance against the fascist Japan army who kept up the fight for freedom after U.S. Gen. MacArthur ran away from the Philipines during WW II. MacArthur was only able to return later because of the heroic efforts of these freedom fighters. These freedom fighters were promised a military pension for their heroic actions, and the U.S. must keep its promise. If the U.S. doesn't, how will we be able to earn the respect of foriegn friends in foriegn lands? I am not writing this comment because I am anti-Japanese. To the contrary, I am an American of part Japanese ancestry. But as an American, I am able to see when Japan made a mistake and wrongfully tried to take something that didn't belong to them, with force. I am also able to see when the U.S. made a mistake and broke a promise, which it must now keep.

Excuse me wrote:

It is no coincidence that this news "breaks" right before the Hawaii Democrat Caucus. It is timed to manipulate Hawaii Filipinos in particular to support Hilary Clinton since she has been endorsed by One of this Bills perpetual advocates, Dan Akaka. No nothing will ever be done as long as the Democrats can whip up a frenzy when ever it is politically useful. The Democrats have more to gain by perpetually yanking the Filipino community around. If they actually passed this bill how could they control the Filipinos.
The National Democrats are using the same playbook that the local Democrats used for 50 years to yank the Hawaiians around with. Our Democrat legislators have used their position to appoint looters to the Bishop Estate, influence negatively DHHL as well as OHA. Our Democrats are a power mad group. Republican Governor Lingle has made almost as many homes and leases available to Hawaiians in the past 6 years as the previous 50 years of "compassionate" "progressive" Democratic "leadership". While the DOE/BOE has brainwashed all that the Missionaries are holding the Hawaiians back. If all the people who vote Democrat in Hawaii really cared they would vote ALL the Democrats out of office.

Written like a typical mainland republican, the vast majority of whom shoot off their mouths without knowing what they are talking about -- and you actually wonder why you are and people like you hated in Hawaii. The republican Bishop estate trustees, since the establishment of the trust, have ripped it off by entering into sweetheart lease deals with their fellow missionary republicans that allowed the missionary republican land developers to lease prime lands, such as in Kailua and Hawaii Kai, at pennies on the dollar, in order to make huge profits by selling homes at prices that were in parity with fee simple land homes, thus making huge profits because the price margin between the fraudulently low lease price paid to the Bishop Estate and the market prices that were charged for the homes were kept by the missionary republican developers.

To ensure that the Hawaiian beneficiaries of the trust wouldn't be able to discover this fraud, the trustees of the Estate kept the beneficiaries from qualifying to obtain a college education. The male beneficiaries were trained to be firemen and police officers and the females were trained to be housewives. When the democrats were appointed to the Supreme Court, the auditor of the Estate, they were critical of this practice. To combat this, the republican trustees hired a nationally recognized educational consultaant firm of Harvard grads, who were based in Boston, MA to study this situation. To the republicans' dismay, the Boston consultant firm agreed with the democrats. It was only then that the Kamehameha Schools began preparing their students for a college education.

Moreover, talk about inciting political frenzy among the races, the republicans promised the Hawaiians that if they voted for Bill Quinn, a republican, to be governor in the special election to elect the first governor, upon statehood, Quinn would have a 2nd "great mahele," and give the Hawaiians back their land, knowing all along that this was a lie. The republicans even convinced Joe Kealoha that this was true and recruited him to be Quinn's running mate. The Quinn/Kealoha ticket won!!! When Kealoha asked when the 2nd mahele would occur he learned it was all a sham. In the next election he was so angry that he ran against Quinn.

Check out your facts mainlander before you shoot off your ignorant, biased mouth!!!

Enough is enough! I'm tired of how Senators can earmark millions of dollars for their friends but need to debate whether Filipino Veterans get what was promised and what is deserved. Ask any of the the Filipino Veterans and they will humbly tell you that they fought for the U.S. Most are living in poverty. There is nothing to debate about this issue! If they really wanted to make it happen, it would have slipped in along with the others!
And I am also tired of Hawaii's Democratic Senators pretending to fight for Filipino Veterans in order to obtain the Filipino vote and to get Filipinos to blindly support their initiatives! Wake up Filipino people! Stop buying into their "fight" for the veterans. Do they really want to help you or are they just pretending so they can get you to convince rest of the Filipino people to support all their other initiatives? Think about it ...
Instead of hearing the Senators apologize this year for their failed efforts, I rather them just stop pretending to fight. Don't they know that their games are affecting individuals who fought for our freedom! Stop playing around, stop pretending, stop talking about it and debating, stop using the "fight" for Equity to get votes. Just make it happen!

here i am again.......yes, JUST MAKE IT HAPPEN,....the filipino veterans at 80 or 90 years of age go to their grave, while the politicians play their games, of course the politicians have no problem with food or housing or health insurance since they sucking off the government benefits,..i wonder if they could enjoy such a good life if the filipino vets didnt keep the war out of america,...maybe we all would be speaking japanese by now if not for them, God bless these old men!

Although I do support Philippine Guerillas who fought on behalf of the United States, which the Philippines was part of at that time, recieve increased benifits. I believe that this story doesn't provide all the information to its reading public about the bill it chooses to discuss. In doing so it is written in a way that puts a negative spin on the position of the Senator of North Carolina, who happens to be a Republican.
I am sure that if all the information, and the reasoning behind their positions, were written more thoroughly within this paper its reading public would have a better informed position on the subject which it whiches to address.
This is an important subject and shouldn't be relegated to the backwater of the legislative agenda. We should honor those who have fought for us, the main debate with this bill comes down to how much is proper in comparisan to like compensation for others of the same catagory but live in different areas.

Kindly also include veterans who passed away waiting for these benefits.

Dave wrote:

The Japanese got reparations for internment and the Koreans got citizenship for enlisting in the US Army. What does the Filipino get? Seems as tho they will die with nothing, yet they fought for the USA

The complication here is that they were fighting for the Philippines.

I find it kind of pathetic to see grown people beg for money because they had to help someone else (ie the USA) fight to defend THEIR country (ie Philippines) from the Japanese invaders.

I know everyone has said that MacArthur promised to pay the Filipinos as mercenaries essentially but I've never scene that proof. Not questioning its existence but does anyone have the "promise" in writing? Why is it never revealed?

Paying Filipinos to defend the Philippines in WWII is like paying every Iraqi today to who has fought for Iraq.

Shouldn't those Filipinos just be proud that they helped to liberate their country from the Japanese Imperial invaders? Isn't that enough?

KeepYourPromises wrote:

<quoted text>
Written like a typical mainland republican, the vast majority of whom shoot off their mouths without knowing what they are talking about -- and you actually wonder why you are and people like you hated in Hawaii. The republican Bishop estate trustees, since the establishment of the trust, have ripped it off by entering into sweetheart lease deals with their fellow missionary republicans that allowed the missionary republican land developers to lease prime lands, such as in Kailua and Hawaii Kai, at pennies on the dollar, in order to make huge profits by selling homes at prices that were in parity with fee simple land homes, thus making huge profits because the price margin between the fraudulently low lease price paid to the Bishop Estate and the market prices that were charged for the homes were kept by the missionary republican developers.

Yes, and then the Plantation Asian Democrats passed the forced Leasehold Conversion laws which forced Bishop Estate to sell their lands to the same individuals who benefited from paying pennies on the dollar.

Thank You Plantation Asian Democrats.

KeepYourPromises wrote:

<quoted text>
To ensure that the Hawaiian beneficiaries of the trust wouldn't be able to discover this fraud, the trustees of the Estate kept the beneficiaries from qualifying to obtain a college education. The male beneficiaries were trained to be firemen and police officers and the females were trained to be housewives. When the democrats were appointed to the Supreme Court, the auditor of the Estate, they were critical of this practice. To combat this, the republican trustees hired a nationally recognized educational consultaant firm of Harvard grads, who were based in Boston, MA to study this situation. To the republicans' dismay, the Boston consultant firm agreed with the democrats. It was only then that the Kamehameha Schools began preparing their students for a college education.

You are a typical toenail Hawaiian or a "local" ie Hawaiian Wannabee with your distorted history.

Pauahi herself said the purpose of her schools as to "help Hawaiians kids to become good and industrious citizens". She didn't say to make them math club champs.

You are correct that when the Plantation Asian Democrats took over the state, they started picking their own Plantation Asian friendly trustees like Takabuki for example. The decisions to make Kamehameha compete with Punahou and Iolani academically was what took Kamehameha from a predominantly Hawaiian school to a toe-nail Hawaiian school. Listening to Harvard, Boston "experts" was the foolish. I think Pauahi would be sickened if she took a tour of Papakolea and Leeward side and saw all the real Hawaiians who are not being helped.

Thanks to the Plantation Asian Democrats.

Hawaii has never had much of a job market for higher education. Still does not.

KeepYourPromises wrote:

<quoted text>
Moreover, talk about inciting political frenzy among the races, the republicans promised the Hawaiians that if they voted for Bill Quinn, a republican, to be governor in the special election to elect the first governor, upon statehood, Quinn would have a 2nd "great mahele," and give the Hawaiians back their land, knowing all along that this was a lie. The republicans even convinced Joe Kealoha that this was true and recruited him to be Quinn's running mate. The Quinn/Kealoha ticket won!!! When Kealoha asked when the 2nd mahele would occur he learned it was all a sham. In the next election he was so angry that he ran against Quinn.
Check out your facts mainlander before you shoot off your ignorant, biased mouth!!!

So the Plantation Asian Democrats have had 50 years of 100% control.

When was their 2nd Mahele? Was it the mandatory Leasehold Conversion laws that hurt Hawaiian trusts?

Thank you Plantation Asian Democrats, for nothing.

Check out your facts toenail Hawaiian or Plantation Asian immigrant before you shoot off your ignorant, biased mouth!!!