USDVA to accept FVEC claims application at PVAO in Quezon City

The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (USDVA) will put up a receiving area at the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO) in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City to manage the eleventh-hour rush Filipino Veterans Equity Compensation (FVEC) claims application on February 8-16, 2010.

All claimants who are yet to file their application are strongly invited to go to PVAO Central Office at 8-5pm, Monday – Friday, during the last seven (7) working days for the filing of claims. Four USDVA representatives will personally accept claims application and entertain queries on the status of claims already filed.

The PVAO continuously assists the USDVA, which processes all claims for the FVEC benefit, in the information campaign and in reaching out to all WW II veterans through the agency’s Field Service Extension Offices nationwide. Further, in the expected last-minute rush to beat the deadline, PVAO Central Office personnel will again provide maximum assistance to the USDVA in the acceptance of applications by providing comfortable waiting areas and free snacks for the remaining FVEC applicants.

February 16, 2010 marks the deadline and the year after the long-awaited Filipino WWII veterans benefit was signed into law by U.S. President Barack Obama. The veterans who are eligible for the payment are as follows: “persons who served before July 1, 1946 in the organized military forces of the Government of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, while such forces were in the service of the Armed Forces of the United States; members of the organized Guerilla Forces under commanders appointed, designated, or subsequently recognized by the Commander in Chief, Southwest Pacific Area, or other competent authority in the Army of the United States; persons who served in the Philippine Scouts under Section 14 of the Armed Forces Voluntary Recruitment Act of 1945.”

The US Embassy through the former U.S. Ambassador Kristie Kenney stressed, “Every veteran is encouraged to apply for the benefit even those who think are remotely eligible so that everyone will have a fair chance.”