Privilege Speech of Senator Richard J. Gordon
thanking the US Congress for granting
recognition and benefits to Filipino WWII veterans

Ladies and gentlemen of this honorable Senate, good afternoon.

In a movie that I saw recently which was not that good either called, Pearl Harbor, something struck me in a statement made by a couple of actors who were both playing admirals as they watched American airplanes take off from the American Aircraft Carrier USS Hornet to attack Japan or Tokyo right after Pearl Harbor. And the statement that was made struck me because it comes very close to the heart of every Filipino, who has always been able to step up to the plate when there are challenges in life, from Lapu-Lapu all the way to the present.

Mr. President, I quote that statement which struck me. It said: "There is nothing stronger than the heart of a volunteer. We may lose this battle but we will win this war." It is because of them, referring to the pilots who were about to fly who were all volunteers. They are rare. They show up when they are needed.

So, Mr. President, today, I rise on a question of collective privilege in behalf of the Filipino veterans and also, not only to recognize their contributions to our country, especially enriching the history of the Filipino, being so courageous against insurmountable odds, decided that they would fight for, not just for their country, but for an America that at that time conquered the Philippines in 1898, certainly, was controlling the destinies of our country and that is why, we were at war with another country called Japan.

When the war broke out in December 1941, I must point out that Filipinos took up arms against the invader. They did not sit timidly by, hindi sila naghunos-dili. They went directly to pick up arms�college students, young people, who went up all the way to Bataan, 80,000 troops fought there, 10,000 were Americans, 70,000 were Filipinos. But when we look at the movies like Bataan or Back to Bataan, the way Hollywood portrayed our country, it was only the Americans that were fighting that war and no mention was made of Filipinos, although one Filipino even won the Medal of Honor. He was from Iloilo. Mr. President, when the Death March transpired after Bataan, there were about 56,000 strugglers and again most of these people were Filipinos, practically 80% or 90% of them were Filipinos and only 10% were Americans, and they died walking there. And along the Death March, we could see Filipinos being bayoneted by the Japanese for giving bibingka or kakanin, a cup of rice or giving a glass of water to Americans or Filipinos who were marching. And the struggler-Filipinos, as we all know, the way we are, we would struggle and get our comrades together, collect themselves and drag their comrades, carry them behind their backs so that they could finish the great march that would show throughout the whole world the kind of valor that Filipinos had. There were 65,000 Filipinos and about 8,000 Americans who marched there and they all became prisoners of war later on.

After that battle, we have people like Angel Cabrera, a young man who played football for the Ateneo, he was one of the three brothers. That young man used to be hurt in football games because he was a little lad but, nonetheless, had a big heart. Arsenio Lacson talked about this guy, Angel Cabrera because when he was captured after Bataan along with his brothers, they were taken to Fort Santiago and there he would be taken from his cell and after he was taken from his cell being dragged, he would be beaten up and every time he was beaten up at the end of the day, he would go back and he would show the other prisoners of war in Fort Santiago, the thumbs up with a smile. He would show that he still okay and still as brave and courageous as ever. Finally, the Japanese got tired of this young man and they dragged him into La Loma Cemetery, made them dig his grave and Cabrera said, "I would rather dig your grave, I am not going to dig my grave." The Japanese stabbed him with a bayonet and he died in a pool of his blood with a smile on his face.

Arsenio Lacson who was there, and who would later on become mayor of Manila wrote about it and he said, "You know who won that day." Because he had coached this young man and he knew that every time this guy was hurt, he would have a smile on his face and Angel Cabrera had a smile on his face as he lay there dying in the pool of his blood and Arsenio Lacson knew that he had stood as a Filipino courageous to the end and certainly uplifting the principles that he has learned as well as the values as a Filipino.

Mr. President, I can tell you many stories, even the Senate President of this august Chamber, was a young man of 17 when the war broke out in Aparri. Right away, he joined the first guerilla unit organized during World War II in the Philippines, the Agburo brigade, if I am not mistaken. He fought as a young soldier of 17 until he was captured by the Japanese later on, I believe, somewhere around 1944 and he was tortured. What was torture like? He would say that every night to this day, he would remember the shouts, the moans, the screams of Filipinos being tortured by the aggressor at that time. And yet our Senate President never asked for money from the Americans and so did many others. But the unkindest cut of all was after the war, the Americans on February 18, 1946, about six-and-a-half decades ago would forget the service, iyong pinaghirapan ng mga Filipino, and practically turned their backs on the heroism of our countrymen at sasabihin nila, kalimutan na natin lahat iyan, kalimutan natin ang mga benepisyong ipinangako ni Roosevelt at ngayon, panibago nang labanan.

Of course, to be sure, there was a Missouri List, about 300,000 to 400,000 Filipinos enlisted in that war, and there was also the Missouri List of about 18,000 Filipinos that were left unregistered and had become registered, Mr. President. But nonetheless, tinanggal ng mga Amerikano iyong kanilang debt of honor, they forgot, and as the years went by, six-and-a-half decades as more and more Americans were born into this earth and became senators and became congressmen in the United States, they would think of the Philippines as a far away place, not remembering the kind of valor, the kind of Filipinos that fought that war.

After Bataan, people like Senator Enrile fought, and for that matter, all throughout, we fought a guerilla warfare, we could have joined and become collaborators as some of our people did. We had people like Wenceslao Vinzons of Camarines del Norte, who was then governor, before that the youngest delegate of the Constitutional Convention in 1935, an intelligent young man who debated with Quezon on matters such as Maphilindo or Bahasa as the national language. He would fight the Japanese in his native province of Camarines Norte, a credit to the Bicolano race, and later on, he would be captured by the Japanese, and in spite of the fact that he was being tortured, he refused to join the puppet government of Japan. When the Japanese got tired, this Filipino decided that he would throw little notes and say, "Fight on Philippines," outside his jail cell to encourage his friends, to encourage his countrymen to keep on fighting the war. The Japanese finally got tired of him and one day, he, together with some members of his family were dragged by the Japanese out of their cells and were never heard of again. Some say, his head was cut along with his family.

Nobody knows about Wenceslao Vinzons anymore, nobody knows his grave. Many Filipinos died in nameless graves. Some of them were made to dig their graves, and yet they stood fast. They stood like the Filipinos in Bataan, like the Filipinos on the wayside, giving their contribution to the war effort in the fight for democracy of our country.

Although the Americans have forgotten, our veterans never forgot. And there were also leaders amongst us, President Quirino sent then Congressman Marcos to go and negotiate for the veterans benefits along with the war damage claims. President after president all the way to present President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, spoke for the veterans in the United States. At some point in time, the veterans had to fight their fight in the United States. We can remember about 10 to 15 years ago, some of our Filipino veterans chained themselves to the gate of the White House, or some areas in Washington DC, together with the Congressman by the name of Bob Filmer chaining themselves on the fence if only to show the whole world that the Filipino was not forgotten...

Having done that, slowly the issue of justice and honor by the Americans rose to the occasion, until time and again, my brother and I have been going to the United States of America, have been talking also with the Americans about this, and visiting senators from America would never hear the last of it from our family when we talked about how the Americans have forgotten their word of honor.

Finally in fact when I was the Secretary of Tourism, this President, brought me to Washington and I was there in the White House, I believe Senator Roxas was there, along with then Secretary of Energy, Vince Perez and a few others, and I was the point man insofar as demanding the claims for the veterans. And I can remember telling the President of the United States to his face that, "You have a debt of honor to remember and to pay. And as I speak, Filipino veterans are dying on their death beds, unrewarded by recognition of the honor that they served in the country, to fight for our country, and to fight for your country unrecognized by your government." And of course, I can remember calling Paul and Mr. Principi, the Secretary of the Veterans Affairs, raising their hands and said, it is something that we are still going to pursue nonetheless.

I went back there in 1997, Mr. President, already a senator, and I met people like Senator Inouye or for that matter, a Republican by the name of Congressman Roger Craig. Roger Craig has since became a senator of recent vintage, and I can remember Roger Craig telling me: "Please, please, pass a bill in your Senate to make sure that the veterans in your country will not become an issue in this debate because we want to make sure that when we give you the money for the veterans in the Philippines, nobody will be able to say that the Filipinos took out their pensions in their own country." And that is why, I believe, Republic Act No. 9499 was born here and it was sponsored both by Senator Biazon and myself. I authored the bill and it is approved. I think it was a deal breaker to a certain extent because I was just told again by the Ambassador, Willie Gaa--Congressman Roger Wicker is his name, not Roger Craig but Roger Wicker. And let me tell the gentleman that Senator Inouye also brought Senator Pat Leahy who was raising the issue of extrajudicial killings at that time before me and Ambassador Gaa and we stood up against Senator Pat Leahy, and said that this is not the issue although the Senate is actually addressing this. My own father was assassinated and every time there is a major assassination in this country, this representation would stand up and this should not be an issue that should delay the debt of honor that was required to be paid by the United States.

Actually, when I spoke with Bob Filmer, the guy who chained himself, the gentleman from San Diego as he is referred to in the Lower House of Representatives in the United States, Bob Filmer told me: "Please tell your President that she has to talk with President Bush and tell him no other issues should be discussed since we have a chance to get this bill passed this time." And, I did tell the President at that time and in 1998 we almost got the bill passed. Bob Filmer and Senator Inouye, together with Senator Akaka and others, were able to come out with the bill that would have given $900 a month to the veterans in the Philippines. Unfortunately, in the Senate of the United States and in the Lower House, they were able to appropriate the money, but they could not find authorization to release that money.

Having said that, Barrack Obama and McCain, when they ran, both supported the Veterans Bill for Filpinos. And finally, the economic stimulus bill of 2009 was finally approved the other day in Congress and in it, was a little rider that would give $15,000 to Filipino-based Americans, veterans. Filipino-Americans in the United States would get $15,000 and alongside with it was $9,000 and this was authored by both Congress and Filmer. And during the debates in the Senate, I call and I ask my colleagues to lend me their ears on this issue. A senator, the third oldest ranking member of the U.S. Senate, a Japanese individual born from Japanese immigrants in Hawaii by the name of Danny Inouye stood up and said: "It is time to pay our debt of honor. It has been a black day for America that this bill has never been approved for the last six-and-a-half decades and we owe these brave Filipinos who are dying, as we speak, on their deathbeds, finally, the recognition that they deserve and according to him, it was a debt of honor.

In fact, Mr. President, I could recite and read what Senator Inouye said in his sponsorship and during the debates. But let me just say, suffice it to say, that it was a very, very sterling moment as far as this senator is concerned, because at that time, he said that Filipinos went to Bataan and he spoke about the number of Filipinos out there, and he said: "I agree with the Senator from Arizona", referring to Senator McCain, "this is not a stimulus proposal. It does not create jobs, but the honor of the United States is what is involved. In other words, this is completely alien to the stimulus package and yet this man, Senator Inouye along with Bob Filmer, stood up and protected the rights of Filipinos finally.

Now, Mr. President, who is Senator Inouye? Senator Inouye, like I said, is a son of a Japanese immigrant. At the start of the war, he enlisted right away even if he was a Japanese-American and fought with the 446th Combat Regiment, I believe it is and they call it the "Go-for-broke regiment". Ultimately, this regiment of Japanese, born in America, would become the most decorated unit in that duration in the whole United States military history. The Japanese-Americans were proving that there in Europe they are going to make the most difficult fights, the most difficult battles and win the most difficult test in their character.

Mr. President, Senator Inouye got the Distinguished Service Medal at that time. Later on, in the year 2000, his medal would be raised to the level of the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Mr. President, I can tell a little story about Mr. Inouye. When he became the first Congressman from Hawaii, he went inside the Chamber of the House of Representatives. He went to the Speaker's podium. And Sam Rayburn, then the Speaker, asked him to raise his right arm. And there was a hush in the audience because Senator Inouye, then Congressman, the first elected Congressman from the State of Hawaii, did not raise his right arm. He raised his left arm because his right arm had been severed by a wound in World War II. And he said, "There is no right arm to raise," as said at that time or somebody said at that time who wrote about this incident, because his right arm had been lost in World War II fighting for his country.

Again, Senator Inouye says in his speech, he loves his country. He has fought for his country, and in his speech, fighting and extolling the Filipino veteran. He again speaks like that young congressman who may have lost his arm. And as the old story goes in Spain, apezarde in spite of the lost right arm, he was still able to get his bills across in the United States Senate. And as he nears the twilight of his career in the United States Senate, he has finally passed, as an Asian American, the bill that will finally recognize the courage of Filipinos right here in our own country.

Sometimes, Mr. President, I bemoan the fact that we Filipinos do not talk about the heroism of many of our countrymen... And at times we talk about the things that we do not want...by going to ceaseless investigations and never extolling the greatness of the many who have served this country in the past.

That is why I am proud to be able to tell the stories of Juan Ponce Enrile, that young 17-year-old guy who never, never even applied for the veterans claims. He is not going to get $9,000 and yet he did not find it that that was the issue. I can hear the Senate President saying, he is not the only one. The former Defense Secretary Ernesto Mata fought but never, never staked his claim.

Mr. President, after all, this is not a question of money. There will be those now who will say, napakaliit. So they may say it is not really just a question of money. But for somebody who is 90 years in his deathbed or sick, like Col. Emmanuel de Ocampo, the leader of the veterans group of the Philippines right now is sick in Lourdes Hospital...

Mr. President, that may not be much for us, but certainly, that is more than enough recognition. Surely, it may be monetary but in reality, the respect to their families, to their country has finally come.

I, certainly, am not happy by it because if we look at it in terms of monetary gains, I will never be happy about it. I think we should ask the United States to even allow the children of those who have become Americans who fought in that war reunification with their families because their 18-year-old kids who have gotten married cannot go to the United States. That is a fight that Filipino-Americans are still waging. But this is one fight that the Filipino-Americans became solidly together in the United States.

Filipino-Americans, whether they be Bicolano or Ilocano Americans, fought and went to Congress. And they made a difference. Every ambassador of our country, from the current Ambassador Willy Gaa, quietly, sometimes, has to face Americans who were hostile to this idea. But nonetheless, I saw him stand his ground. Many ambassadors including Ernie Maceda or, for that matter, Ambassador Pelaez, or Raul Rabe, or for that matter Albert Del Rosario, they all continued the fight. They could have been overwhelmed by this big, big wall in our mind that every time we ambition for something, we will always be belittled sometimes by our own people. Belittled, Mr. President. And exactly, at times I feel that this is a case, and that is why we cannot aspire for greatness because the ambition of Filipinos to be great has never been encouraged in this country and never been inspiring for so many people.

So, today, Mr. President, I humbly stand before this Chamber once again on a matter of history. After all, as President Garcia once told me as a young delegate of the Constitutional Convention: "The man who has seen a long past is capable of seeing a far future." A country that cannot look back on its past will never be able to reach the heights of Olympus. And in this particular instance, I call upon every senator to pause a little as we go on through our daily lives as we work in the Senate. That we will not be here had it not been for those who offer themselves in the service of our country, not only in Bataan, but in many, many instances in other fields of endeavor.

That is why today, I rise to file that resolution that I have already filed, Mr. President. Perhaps, some people would say, "Ayan na naman si Gordon, extolling, saying that we should thank the American Congress." Well, I will take it for whatever it is. I will take the thanks of the American Congress even if it comes too late. Because in our country, we also forget our veterans. And if the American Congress saw it fit to be too late, to come down even if it is too late, I will take it because it is something earned by our people who fought for our country. And if those people think it is too small, then let them be the first to return it to America, because it has never been, in my case, a question of money.

When I was senator, Mr. President, I never stopped this advocacy because we had the 60th anniversary of deliberation, and I never call it deliberation of the Philippines by Americas. Mr. President, we went to Nueva Ecija, we went to Los Banos, we went to Ipo Dam, we went to Davao, we went to Zamboanga, we went to Iloilo, we went all over the country. And every time I was asked to speak there, I would remember telling the Americans that they owe a debt of gratitude. Sometimes, we can never, never get tired of telling people who owed us that until the day it is born. Never recognize it rather slipshodly if you will. They recognize it in a movie called the Go Soldiers and they make the Americans the heroes again. I wish that sometimes we would be a little wealthy or a little more bold in our effort to try and come out in the movie like that. Because the real heroes in Go Soldiers when Americans were tasked to go from Clark to Nueva Ecija, were supported by two Filipinos leading many Filipino guerillas by the name of Captain Pajota and Captain, as we know, Governor Joson. Later on, Governor Joson. And they were able to make the covering firing and gave a lot of Japanese in the process so that Americans could be deliberated from Cabanatuan. And when I go back there, Mr. President, to Cabanatuan up to this day, I can tell everybody, ang ganda-ganda ng monumento ng American prisoners of war. Pero ang monumento ng Pilipino, napakaramot natin. Hindi tayo marunong mag-alaga ng kasaysayan na ginawa nitong sina Captain Pajota at saka ni Captain Joson.

Mr. President, if we go to this tail of Los Banos, in Los Banos, people like Father Reuter were interred. Ang dami nila doon in-inter. And Collin Powel, if I remember correctly, he told me about that when we were in the United States, and he said, "You know Los Banos was one of the most well-executed and successful raids or rescue in the annals of military history. And do we know who led that raid, Mr. President? Filipinos raided and Americans followed just a few minutes later. It is the Filipinos who liberated the foreigners in Los Banos.

Let me tell the gentleman what happened in that raid. When the Americans and the Filipinos left, the "makapilis" came back with their sacks and then identified the homes that participated and cooperated with the Filipinos and Americans in conducting that raid. Itinuro nila lahat iyong mga taong tumulong sa mga Pilipino para makalaya ang mga pari, mga madre, mga ambassador na ikinulong diyan. At ano ang ginawa ng mga Hapon? Itinali ang mga Pilipino kasama ng mga pamilya nila. Itinali sa apat na poste ng bahay nila at sinunog ng mga Hapon. I was surprised, Mr. President, how badly the Los Banos people felt when we celebrated the 60th anniversary in Los Banos its 60th anniversary.

Mr. President, these are the kind of stories our children must hear. If we do not tell our children the stories of the past, stories of people they can relate to and who are still alive today, who will tell that story? Who will extol the fact that the Filipino, indeed, is capable of greatness?

Mr. President, paraphrasing that movie "Pearl Harbor" which is really a very bad movie but, nonetheless, the quote which I thought appropriate is: "Nothing can be greater than the heart of a volunteer because a hero is a volunteer." Ang hero ay may kusang-loob, may malasakit sa kapwa-tao. These are the heroes who fought in World War II, who gave us our freedom and we must never, never forget.

Mr. President, a poem was created by Salvador P. Lopez, a fraternity brother of ours, who became the President of the University of the Philippines. It was read at that time by somebody who was, indeed, one of the... If the Chair will give me just a few minutes, I will just get something from my desk.

If the Chair will bear with me, I think it is important enough to remember and to say right here again and again what Salvador P. Lopez said in that famous poem of his. It is "Bataan Has Fallen" and it was recited at that time by a certain Lt. Norman Reyes and broadcasted over the Voice of Freedom. I will quote as I close:

Bataan has fallen. With heads bloody but unbowed, we yield to the enemy. The world will long remember the epic struggle. We have stood up uncomplaining. Besieged on land and blockaded by sea, we have done all that human endurance could bear. What sustained us was a force more than merely physical. It is a force of an unconquerable faith, something in the soul that is immortal. It is a thought of native land. All the world will testify that men fighting with unshakeable faith are made of something more than flesh. But we are not made of impervious steel. The flesh must yield at last. Endurance melts away and the end of the battle must come. Bataan has fallen, but the spirit that made it stand, a beacon to all the world cannot fall. Our defeat is our victory.

Thank you very much, Mr. President, for giving me the privilege to remind us of our duty to our people who have fallen and who have fought for us and making our necessary thanks to those who have joined us, kindred spirits, in the battle for courage and honor and duty. Thank you very much, Mr. President.