Posted on Feb 7, 2023
Analysis: Why is the West Eyeing The Philippines' Bases as Strategic Location Against China
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We cannot expect the PI to be a better ally to us than we have been to them.
1) In 1897 we promised the people of the Philippines' freedom when the Spanish colonial authorities were overthrown. However, the PI's strategic position for fueling the US Navy caused us to reconsider our earlier promise.
We need to make amends for this, and an apology is probably enough.
2) During WWII President Franklin Roosevelt promised Filipino veterans who fought under US command full GI (incl. the VA) benefits and the right to become US citizens as an enticement for them to join the war. In 1946 then President Harry Truman signed the Rescission Act of 1946. In so doing the promised GI benefits and US citizenship were rescinded. In short it stated that the service of Filipinos “shall not be deemed to be or to have been service in the military or national forces of the US or any component thereof or any law of the US conferring rights, privileges or benefits.”
We must again apologize for our faithlessness, however this time we must also make good on our original promise. If we can encourage millions of economic migrants to enter our country uncontrolled and illegally, we can make good on our promises from WWII.
We also need to remember that the PI is at far greater risk from Communist China than we are. By encouraging them to become an active party to the upcoming regional conflict, we must follow through on our promises and protect them in turn.
1) In 1897 we promised the people of the Philippines' freedom when the Spanish colonial authorities were overthrown. However, the PI's strategic position for fueling the US Navy caused us to reconsider our earlier promise.
We need to make amends for this, and an apology is probably enough.
2) During WWII President Franklin Roosevelt promised Filipino veterans who fought under US command full GI (incl. the VA) benefits and the right to become US citizens as an enticement for them to join the war. In 1946 then President Harry Truman signed the Rescission Act of 1946. In so doing the promised GI benefits and US citizenship were rescinded. In short it stated that the service of Filipinos “shall not be deemed to be or to have been service in the military or national forces of the US or any component thereof or any law of the US conferring rights, privileges or benefits.”
We must again apologize for our faithlessness, however this time we must also make good on our original promise. If we can encourage millions of economic migrants to enter our country uncontrolled and illegally, we can make good on our promises from WWII.
We also need to remember that the PI is at far greater risk from Communist China than we are. By encouraging them to become an active party to the upcoming regional conflict, we must follow through on our promises and protect them in turn.
Analysis: Why is the West Eyeing The Philippines' Bases as Strategic Location Against China
Posted from sofrep.com
South China Sea
Philippines
Clark AB
Naval Base Subic Bay
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 1
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for #1 already done many years ago. Having served there 99% would not know what you are talking about. #2 is not so clear cut see the fact sheet - is not so clear-cut. https://www.va.gov/opa/publications/factsheets/fs_filipino_veterans.pdf
Also - the Philippine government objected. See C.2 below.
8 FAM 302.5-5 PHILIPPINE VETERANS OF WORLD WAR II
(CT:CITZ-35; 05-15-2020)
a. The Commonwealth Army of the Philippines was called to serve with the United States Armed Forces in the Far East during World War II, under President Roosevelt’s military order of July 26, 1941.
b. Sections 701, 702 and 705 of the Nationality Act of 1940, added by the Second War Powers Act, 1942, 56 Stat. 182, as amended, provided for the naturalization of noncitizens who served honorably in the Armed Forces of the United States during World War II authorizing the appointment of naturalization officers to confer these benefits on noncitizens outside the jurisdiction of a naturalization court:
(1) Section 701 exempted certain alien servicemen who served outside the continental limits of the United States from some of the usual requirements for naturalization, including those of a period of residence in the United States and literacy in English. An amendment to this section specified that all petitions filed under it had to be filed no later than December 31, 1946;
(2) Section 702 provided for the overseas naturalization of persons eligible for naturalization under section 701 who were not within the jurisdiction of any court authorized to naturalize aliens; naturalization under section 702 could take place only during active service in the Armed Forces; and
(3) Section 705 authorized the Commissioner of Immigration and Naturalization, with the approval of the Attorney General, to make such rules and regulations as were necessary to carry into effect the provisions of the act.
c. Implementation:
(1) Over the next 3 years, approximately 7,000 Filipino soldiers were naturalized as U.S. citizens in places outside the Philippine Islands (which were occupied during that entire period by Japan). Most of these were naturalized by courts in the United States, but at least 1,000 others were naturalized by U.S. immigration officials appointed under section 702, traveling from post to post on rotation throughout England, Iceland, North Africa, and the islands of the Pacific (see INS v. Hibi, 414 U.S. 10 (1973); and
(2) After the Philippines were liberated from Japanese occupation, in August 1945, George Ennis, the U.S. Vice Consul in Manila, was designated to naturalize aliens pursuant to the NA. Almost immediately after that, the Philippine Government began to express its concern that a mass migration of newly naturalized veterans would drain the country of essential manpower, undermining postwar reconstruction efforts in the soon-to-be independent country. Accordingly, on September 13, 1945, the Commissioner recommended to Attorney General Clark that Vice Consul Ennis's naturalization authority be revoked. (Memorandum to Tom C. Clark, Attorney General, from Ugo Carusi, INS Commissioner, dated September 13, 1945, quoted in Matter of Naturalization of 68 Filipino War Veterans, 406 F. Supp. 931, 936, n. 5 (ND Cal.1975).) On October 26, 1945, Ennis was informed of that revocation. For the next 9 months, no official with section 702 authority to receive and act upon petitions for naturalization was present in the Philippines, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) apparently taking the position that appointment of such an official was authorized, but not mandated. Not until August, 1946, did the INS designate a new section 702 official for the Philippines, who naturalized approximately 4,000 Filipinos before the December 31, 1946, expiration date of the 1940 act.
d. The 9-month absence of a naturalization examiner during the filing period was the basis of numerous lawsuits filed by Filipino World War II veterans. (For example, In the Matter of Petitions for Naturalization of 68 Filipino War Veterans, 406 F. Supp. 931 (ND Cal. 1975); United States v. Mendoza, 464 U.S. 154 (1984); Olegario v. United States, 629 F. 2d 204 (2nd Cir. 1980).)
e. The U. S. Supreme Court ruled that Filipino World War II veterans had no statutory rights to citizenship under the expired provisions of the Nationality Act of 1940.
f. On February 18, 1946, the Congress enacted the Rescission Act of 1946 which deemed that the service performed by these Filipino veterans would not be recognized as “active service” for the purpose of any U.S. law conferring “rights, privileges, or benefits.”
g. Besides the explicit cutoff date in the 1940 act, Congress in 1948, adopted a new liberalized citizenship program that excluded Filipino servicemen, and specifically provided that even applications timely filed under the 1940 act and still pending would be adjudged under the new provisions act of June 1, 1948.
h. Congress passed several bills to amend the Immigration Act of 1990, making it possible for veterans to naturalize in the Philippines and extending the cut-off date for application (8 CFR 329.5). Interviews were conducted in the Philippines and in the United States. In 1997 Congress extended the filing deadline until Feb. 3, 2001. That was the last extension. This soon brought about a large wave of elderly Filipino applicants, some twenty-eight thousand of whom had become U.S. citizens. The text of 405 does not address the derivative naturalization of spouses, widows or children of veterans.
Also - the Philippine government objected. See C.2 below.
8 FAM 302.5-5 PHILIPPINE VETERANS OF WORLD WAR II
(CT:CITZ-35; 05-15-2020)
a. The Commonwealth Army of the Philippines was called to serve with the United States Armed Forces in the Far East during World War II, under President Roosevelt’s military order of July 26, 1941.
b. Sections 701, 702 and 705 of the Nationality Act of 1940, added by the Second War Powers Act, 1942, 56 Stat. 182, as amended, provided for the naturalization of noncitizens who served honorably in the Armed Forces of the United States during World War II authorizing the appointment of naturalization officers to confer these benefits on noncitizens outside the jurisdiction of a naturalization court:
(1) Section 701 exempted certain alien servicemen who served outside the continental limits of the United States from some of the usual requirements for naturalization, including those of a period of residence in the United States and literacy in English. An amendment to this section specified that all petitions filed under it had to be filed no later than December 31, 1946;
(2) Section 702 provided for the overseas naturalization of persons eligible for naturalization under section 701 who were not within the jurisdiction of any court authorized to naturalize aliens; naturalization under section 702 could take place only during active service in the Armed Forces; and
(3) Section 705 authorized the Commissioner of Immigration and Naturalization, with the approval of the Attorney General, to make such rules and regulations as were necessary to carry into effect the provisions of the act.
c. Implementation:
(1) Over the next 3 years, approximately 7,000 Filipino soldiers were naturalized as U.S. citizens in places outside the Philippine Islands (which were occupied during that entire period by Japan). Most of these were naturalized by courts in the United States, but at least 1,000 others were naturalized by U.S. immigration officials appointed under section 702, traveling from post to post on rotation throughout England, Iceland, North Africa, and the islands of the Pacific (see INS v. Hibi, 414 U.S. 10 (1973); and
(2) After the Philippines were liberated from Japanese occupation, in August 1945, George Ennis, the U.S. Vice Consul in Manila, was designated to naturalize aliens pursuant to the NA. Almost immediately after that, the Philippine Government began to express its concern that a mass migration of newly naturalized veterans would drain the country of essential manpower, undermining postwar reconstruction efforts in the soon-to-be independent country. Accordingly, on September 13, 1945, the Commissioner recommended to Attorney General Clark that Vice Consul Ennis's naturalization authority be revoked. (Memorandum to Tom C. Clark, Attorney General, from Ugo Carusi, INS Commissioner, dated September 13, 1945, quoted in Matter of Naturalization of 68 Filipino War Veterans, 406 F. Supp. 931, 936, n. 5 (ND Cal.1975).) On October 26, 1945, Ennis was informed of that revocation. For the next 9 months, no official with section 702 authority to receive and act upon petitions for naturalization was present in the Philippines, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) apparently taking the position that appointment of such an official was authorized, but not mandated. Not until August, 1946, did the INS designate a new section 702 official for the Philippines, who naturalized approximately 4,000 Filipinos before the December 31, 1946, expiration date of the 1940 act.
d. The 9-month absence of a naturalization examiner during the filing period was the basis of numerous lawsuits filed by Filipino World War II veterans. (For example, In the Matter of Petitions for Naturalization of 68 Filipino War Veterans, 406 F. Supp. 931 (ND Cal. 1975); United States v. Mendoza, 464 U.S. 154 (1984); Olegario v. United States, 629 F. 2d 204 (2nd Cir. 1980).)
e. The U. S. Supreme Court ruled that Filipino World War II veterans had no statutory rights to citizenship under the expired provisions of the Nationality Act of 1940.
f. On February 18, 1946, the Congress enacted the Rescission Act of 1946 which deemed that the service performed by these Filipino veterans would not be recognized as “active service” for the purpose of any U.S. law conferring “rights, privileges, or benefits.”
g. Besides the explicit cutoff date in the 1940 act, Congress in 1948, adopted a new liberalized citizenship program that excluded Filipino servicemen, and specifically provided that even applications timely filed under the 1940 act and still pending would be adjudged under the new provisions act of June 1, 1948.
h. Congress passed several bills to amend the Immigration Act of 1990, making it possible for veterans to naturalize in the Philippines and extending the cut-off date for application (8 CFR 329.5). Interviews were conducted in the Philippines and in the United States. In 1997 Congress extended the filing deadline until Feb. 3, 2001. That was the last extension. This soon brought about a large wave of elderly Filipino applicants, some twenty-eight thousand of whom had become U.S. citizens. The text of 405 does not address the derivative naturalization of spouses, widows or children of veterans.
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CPT (Join to see)
How about that. I also served in the PI. When were you there Sir?
Irrespective, you didn't read what I wrote carefully enough. I said Filipino Veterans not the Commonwealth of the Philippines "Government". Irrespective of being betrayed by their government they were betrayed by our government in the form of a promise from FDR as Commander-in-Chief of the US Armed Forces. Lets not "spin" this into what it isn't. We were faithless to our allies.
However we don't need to refer to just WWII veterans, there are a lot of wars where we have behaved similarly. The US Government had decided before the end of the Vietnam war that the Montagnard's were unlikely to make a successful transition to American life. Therefore, it was decided that we would just leave them there. Governments didn't serve alongside these men but Special Forces did. Special Forces soldiers like my father went personally out of pocket to set up a haven for these fighters on land near Ft. Bragg. Thereafter for years the officers and men of the 5th SFG(A) went through all of SE Asia and the refugee camps bringing all that would come, back to the US to live in the forests near Bragg. Eventually the government did help sometimes with getting people fast tracked into the US but it was way too little and way too late.
FLASH forward to Desert Storm my 4th war and the first one where I witnessed perfidy or stupidity on an unexpected scale. Do you remember the Marsh Arabs? They were the people who lived in the Mesopotamian Marshes that we (SF & Agency) talked into fighting with us against Saddam. They were very afraid that we would leave them unprotected when the war (the US initially expected it to take longer) was over. But we promised them over and over "no we'll never let that happen to you". When GEN Schwarzkopf was discussing the cessation of hostilities with Iraq's generals they asked if they could continue flying their helicopters for humanitarian purposes. Of course he said yes it was after all a conversation "just between us generals". Guess what, Saddam's Air Force and Republican Guard started slaughtering them like there was no tomorrow. It took Saddam about 6 months, but when he was done there was nothing left. And I really mean nothing!
FLASH forward to Afghanistan AUG 2021. The US charges into Kabul to save American Citizens and our Afghan Allies. Did we Save all the American Citizens who wanted to leave? Not even close. In fact we left many more behind than we saved. What about our Afghan Allies? One of my buddies who was very junior to me when I left was then at the apex of his career. Basically we left almost all of our Afghan allies and 60% of our citizens back there. So who did we bring out? I don't believe the government has any idea for the most part, but we brought back a whole bunch of something.
Its possible that most average Filipinos don't know our joint history. However the big boys with all the money and international connections certainly do recall it. Probably also the Filipino Generals & Admirals that graduated from the USMA, the USNA, and the USAFA.
We haven't gotten any better ethically since WWII. The soldiers who fought WWII were truly the greatest generation. However soldiers are not governments which in almost every country are amoral at best. What Kabul proved is that our governmental and military leadership would have difficulty planning a successful break-in. The men and women of our armed forces reflect the best of all Americans. We must aspire to be worthy of all our service members & veterans.
Irrespective, you didn't read what I wrote carefully enough. I said Filipino Veterans not the Commonwealth of the Philippines "Government". Irrespective of being betrayed by their government they were betrayed by our government in the form of a promise from FDR as Commander-in-Chief of the US Armed Forces. Lets not "spin" this into what it isn't. We were faithless to our allies.
However we don't need to refer to just WWII veterans, there are a lot of wars where we have behaved similarly. The US Government had decided before the end of the Vietnam war that the Montagnard's were unlikely to make a successful transition to American life. Therefore, it was decided that we would just leave them there. Governments didn't serve alongside these men but Special Forces did. Special Forces soldiers like my father went personally out of pocket to set up a haven for these fighters on land near Ft. Bragg. Thereafter for years the officers and men of the 5th SFG(A) went through all of SE Asia and the refugee camps bringing all that would come, back to the US to live in the forests near Bragg. Eventually the government did help sometimes with getting people fast tracked into the US but it was way too little and way too late.
FLASH forward to Desert Storm my 4th war and the first one where I witnessed perfidy or stupidity on an unexpected scale. Do you remember the Marsh Arabs? They were the people who lived in the Mesopotamian Marshes that we (SF & Agency) talked into fighting with us against Saddam. They were very afraid that we would leave them unprotected when the war (the US initially expected it to take longer) was over. But we promised them over and over "no we'll never let that happen to you". When GEN Schwarzkopf was discussing the cessation of hostilities with Iraq's generals they asked if they could continue flying their helicopters for humanitarian purposes. Of course he said yes it was after all a conversation "just between us generals". Guess what, Saddam's Air Force and Republican Guard started slaughtering them like there was no tomorrow. It took Saddam about 6 months, but when he was done there was nothing left. And I really mean nothing!
FLASH forward to Afghanistan AUG 2021. The US charges into Kabul to save American Citizens and our Afghan Allies. Did we Save all the American Citizens who wanted to leave? Not even close. In fact we left many more behind than we saved. What about our Afghan Allies? One of my buddies who was very junior to me when I left was then at the apex of his career. Basically we left almost all of our Afghan allies and 60% of our citizens back there. So who did we bring out? I don't believe the government has any idea for the most part, but we brought back a whole bunch of something.
Its possible that most average Filipinos don't know our joint history. However the big boys with all the money and international connections certainly do recall it. Probably also the Filipino Generals & Admirals that graduated from the USMA, the USNA, and the USAFA.
We haven't gotten any better ethically since WWII. The soldiers who fought WWII were truly the greatest generation. However soldiers are not governments which in almost every country are amoral at best. What Kabul proved is that our governmental and military leadership would have difficulty planning a successful break-in. The men and women of our armed forces reflect the best of all Americans. We must aspire to be worthy of all our service members & veterans.
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Maj Wayne Crist
Read the history FDR did not promise to all You have to look at at the context of what he said. A fine point not often told - learned that from our Philippine National Advisor. Apologizes are worthless without action. Talk to Koreans about Japan's apologies . Saying we should apologize is in my opinion is crap and politics to do nothing of substance. I'm not saying we shouldn't honor our commitments. As for the Philippine Big boys - I have talked with some - they don't care a twit. I was there 88-91 and dealt with many on a regular basis. Honestly there are not many left of that generation.
About Afghanistan - US citizens were told to leave starting March. If they were there in Aug it was by their choice. Governments are hard cold unfeeling entities and can't be trust. Have our Allies done everything they said they would? Not in any war or conflict I'm aware of nor do they in peace time. Does that make ok for us to act the same no. But the world and governments are not fair. I think it is great that people step in and try to honor those commitments but have little expectation for governments to. Everyone needs to tilt at windmills that matter to them. And sometimes you win.
About Afghanistan - US citizens were told to leave starting March. If they were there in Aug it was by their choice. Governments are hard cold unfeeling entities and can't be trust. Have our Allies done everything they said they would? Not in any war or conflict I'm aware of nor do they in peace time. Does that make ok for us to act the same no. But the world and governments are not fair. I think it is great that people step in and try to honor those commitments but have little expectation for governments to. Everyone needs to tilt at windmills that matter to them. And sometimes you win.
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