It was Franklin’s order, not Teddy Roosevelt’s

I am a regular reader of Inquirer columnist Solita Collas-Monsod, whose views I hold in high respect. But may I point out a slight inaccuracy in her July 5 column? This correction, however, does not in any way diminish my admiration for her columns.

In that column (“So much for friendship”), she slammed the “Rescission Act passed by the US Congress and signed into law by US President Harry Truman on Feb. 18, 1946.”  What the law rescinded was the “July 24, 1941 order issued by US President Theodore Roosevelt.” The order would have granted benefits to the 250,000 Filipinos who fought in World War II under the American flag.

Theodore Roosevelt died in 1919. The order that was rescinded was issued by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR), who in 1941 was serving an unprecedented third term. He died in 1945 and was succeeded by Truman.

I agree with Monsod: The rescission law was an act by which the United States reneged on FDR’s wartime promise.

—ALFREDO F. TADIAR,

retired UP law professor,

chair, ADR Department,

Philippine Judicial Academy