FILIPINO VETERANS ALL SET TO MARK 62nd YEAR OF THE RESCISSION ACT IN LA

Los Angeles- No Justice, No Peace!

The Justice for Filipino American Veterans (JFAV) veterans council composed of different Filipino World War II veterans groups held a meeting to prepare for the 62nd year of the Rescission Act on February 18, 2008.

Prominent veteran leaders attended the council meeting last February 9. Among those who attended were Franco Arcebal of ACFV; Jack Vergara of Society of Guerillas and Scout Inc.(SGSI); Ramon Lladoc of Veterans Center of the Philippines; Eugene Mondok of United Filipino American veterans(UFAV); Peping Baclig and Nick Gadia of JFAV and Arturo Garcia of People’s CORE.

The JFAV will mark February 18 with two events. The first event called JFAV EDUCATION AND ACTION FORUM will be held on February 18 from 9:00 to 2:00 PM at the Lake St. Park Community Center . The forum seeks to study more about the Filipino Veteran's Struggle and strategize ways to gain justice and equity in 2008

The second mass action will be held on Tuesday, February 19, 2008 from 8 AM to 12 PM. Called the MARCH FOR EQUITY AND JUSTICE, the JFAV is calling on everyone join in calling for full recognition, benefits, and family reunification for Filipino Veterans. The march will commence at Lake Street Park,227 North Lake St. at Historic Filipinotown, Los Angeles, CA 90026 and end up at the INS Federal Building at 300 Los Angeles Street and Temple St. Several hundreds are expected to attend the march.

JFAV is calling for the passage of equity bill and the family reunification bill in the US Congress. The family reunification bill seeks 20,000 visas for veterans families. On the other hand the equity bill seeks to correct the inequities in pensions and benefits for both Filipinos in the U.S. and the P{hilippines.

Some of the sponsoring organizations are: Justice for Filipino American Veterans (JFAV), People’s CORE, Search to Involve Pilipino Americans (SIPA), Filipino American Service Group Inc (FASGI) ,Kappa Psi Epsilon - Delta Chapter, Kappa Psi Epsilon - Alpha Chapter, Theta Delta Beta, Kababayan (UC Irvine), Samahang Pilipino (UCLA), American Coalition for Filipino Veterans (ACFV), Society of Guerilla Scouts Inc. (SGSI), ANSWER –LA, Kabataang maka Bayan (KmB), Gabriella Network USA, United Filipino American Veterans (UFAV), Veterans Federation of the Philippines, Golden Agers of Los Angeles (GALA), Pilipino Workers Center (PWC), Filipino American Community of Los Angeles (FACLA), United Health Workers West (UHW), HERE-UNITE, Lions Club, Echo Park Community Coalition, PANA. HiFi NC; AJM, PSL, CHIRLA. SHEPMA. Circulo Pampanguena-USA, DanzaCuathemoc.

Sixty-two years ago, the 79th US Congress passed the infamous Rescission Act that removed the recognition to 250,000 Filipino American veterans who served during the Second World War. Of the 250,000 veterans, only 18,000 of them were reported still alive in the Philippines and the United States.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT AL GARCIA AT: (213) 241-0995 at jfav_+causa (at) yahoo.com