POINTING out the meager burial assistance currently being given by the National Government through the Department of Military Defense and the Philippine Veterans Office to the World War II veterans in the country, City Councilor Leandro Yangot Jr. filed a proposed ordinance seeking to allow the City Government to grant additional burial assistance to the war veterans in Baguio City.
Entitled “An Ordinance granting additional burial assistance to war veterans” the proposed legislative measure shall make it a policy of the city government of Baguio to give due recognition to the valiant contributions given by war veterans in times of war who are exemplars of patriotism and self-sacrifice.
In the explanatory note of the proposed ordinance, Councilor Yangot justified the giving of the additional burial assistance to the war vets by the city citing Section 17, Article II of the 1987 Philippine Constitution which states that, “The State shall give priority to education, science and technology, arts, culture, and sports to foster patriotism and nationalism, accelerate social progress, and promote total human liberation and development” and Section 7 of Article XVI of the same law which states, “The State shall provide immediate and adequate care, benefits, and other forms of assistance to war veterans and veterans of military campaigns, their surviving spouses and orphans.
Funds shall be provided thereof and due consideration shall be given them in the disposition of agricultural lands of the public domain and, in appropriate cases, in the utilization of natural resources”.
Yangot further explained that the lasting effects of military service can be profound and some veterans find themselves in dire straits trying to adjust and return to normal ordinary life. He likewise pointed out that both the World War II and the Korean war have left the Filipino people with a lot of scars and that countless Filipino warriors left their families – wives, sons and daughters – destitute while many of those wounded were rendered invalid for a lifetime and hardly able to eke out a living.
If the proposed measure will be approved the City Government shall provide financial burial assistance in the amount of P20,000 to those entitled such as the surviving spouse, children of the deceased veteran or the nearest surviving relatives by consanguinity which shall be claimed only once. This will be on top of the P20,000 that is already provided and given by the National Government through the Department of Military Defense and the Philippine Veterans Office.
Under the said proposed ordinance the period within which the surviving spouse or nearest relatives of the deceased veteran can claim the said financial assistance shall be within six months from the death of the war veteran and upon the submission to the City Accountant of a written claim for the said financial assistance. The City Accountant shall see to it that within 30 days, the full amount of the financial burial assistance is released to the entitled survivors of the deceased war veteran.