FORT WASHINGTON, Md. — Don’t be fooled by Remigio “Rey” Cabacar’s age. At 96 years old, the World War II veteran still has the spirit to fight for his fellow Filipino comrades.
Cabacar, a Fort Washington resident, is helping keep up the mission to recognize many other Filipino veterans who helped the U.S. against Japan during WWII. Advocates say their sacrifice and service have been overlooked and neglected.
Despite the promises to grant benefits including citizenship to the 260,000 Filipinos who answered the call to serve, the U.S. government failed to deliver soon after the war ended.
President Harry Truman signed the Rescission Act of 1946, which stripped most Filipino veterans of those benefits including promised compensation.
“It was very regrettable because the promise was half-baked,” Cabacar told WUSA9. “The service of Filipinos was not recognized. That’s when we started the fight for our rights. We had to start all over again.”
“I walked 32 miles to go to the recruiting place,” he added. “I wanted to serve the country. We were poor and I thought that’s one way to help my mother.”
That fight galvanized a movement that would last for decades, reaching Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court. Most recently, a group of bipartisan lawmakers introduced a bill that would open the opportunity for Filipino veterans to receive the benefits.
Throughout the years, the U.S. government has been able to grant rights to a fraction of the veterans including in 2009 when President Barack Obama signed a ban to grant a lump sum of money to surviving Filipino veterans, who were either citizen or noncitizen.
Most notably, 600 veterans and families received a Congressional Gold Medal in 2017. Cabacar was among the recipients.
“It was the best moment of my life,” he said. “Never in my wildest dream will I reach that plateau.”
It was part of a long-term initiative by the Filipino Veterans Recognition and Education Project. Since then, FilVetRep has helped provide more medals, but the work is far from over. It's estimated there are about 2,000 living veterans left.
In many cases, verifying a veteran’s status has been difficult because of a lack of documentation.
“FilVetRep is basically trying to get a collective ‘thank-you’ from the American people for the Filipinos who fought under the U.S. flag,” said FilVetRep Regional Director Sonny Busa.
The organization, since it was established in 2013, aims to rescind the Rescission Act. To help recognize the contributions and sacrifices of the Filipino community during the war, the group also launched an education program called Duty to Country.
“What we’re asking schools to do is to include elements of our curriculum into their curriculum,” Busa added. “We don’t expect the full course. This is a piece of American history which isn’t told and representation matters.”
The online program has an outline, lesson plans, essays, testimonials, and videos to help explain the history.
Busa said more than 30 schools across the country have integrated elements of the program, including in Maryland and Virginia.
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