I wish to bring to your attention the plight of thousands of living World War II veterans who are awaiting (with anxiety) the payment of the arrears on their Total Administrative Disability (TAD) benefits, which are provided by Republic Act 7696 (1994). Through the years, no funds have been released for TAD benefits, and it was only in 2010 that government, then under the widely perceived corrupt previous administration, was able to set aside funds for the partial payment of TAD arrears.
But there remains a sizable amount of unpaid arrearages that we old veterans direly need for personal, medical and hospital expenses. Needless to say, we are already on the brink of survival. We have read in the newspapers and learned from TV about the millions of pesos being set aside by the current administration for special projects. How can it not set aside funds for us?
We are too old and no longer have the physical zeal and vigor that we offered our country during the dark days of World War II. So we bring this to the attention of concerned influential sectors/people to please take up the cudgels for us.—FERNANDO S. ALGAS, 31 Quirino Avenue, General Santos City 9500