OFFBEAT MAIL

As the impending fiscal cliff stalks the economic future of America, reports are ripe that some GOP conservatives are thinking of supporting an initiative that will open up anew discussions on how to fix the broken immigration system in America. As to how they were able to think about it is something that may have been the result of the recent presidential election which put the Republican bet to suffer defeat simply because he belittled the voting influences of the millions of Hispanics and Asians across America? Well, the GOP must felt it as shown by the numbers of states where the concentration of Hispanics and Asians may have obviously that voted for President Obama. In Southern California alone, many Fil-Am veterans have hailed Obama's reelection as another positive sign that their dream of getting the remaining veterans benefits which they had been waiting for a long time, would be given attention now by the administration. But, according to them, they would appreciat...

At least, 7,985 claim applications amounting to US$94 million were granted to eligible veterans since the United States government announced as early as April this year the granting of equity compensation benefits to Filipinos who fought side by side with American forces against the Japanese imperial army during the Second World War in the Philippines. Of the 10,761 applications received for processing, 4,149 claims were approved for non-U.S. citizens with each getting US$9,000; and 3,836 for Filipino veterans with U.S. citizenship getting US$15,000 each. While some 2,776 claim applications were disapproved, says a faxed copy report obtained by the American Coalition of Filipino Veterans in Arlington, Virginia from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs office. Ironically, some 32,795 applicants applied for the equity compensation claim with the DVA Center for Minority Veterans, which overshot the number of eligible applicants totaling 18,000 Filipino WWII veterans registered in Misso...

War veterans cry foul over mail fraud Surviving on a measly monthly social pensions from the federal government, many war veterans here have fallen prey to fraudulent transactions mostly done through direct mails by unscrupulous people across the United States. The normal modus operandi appears to be legitimate because the unsuspecting victims would receive mails that looked like their names have been luckily picked up in a lottery draw which in fact was done somewhere else. A case in point was that of Fortunato Magno , a disabled war veteran living in Carson, who got a mail that proclaimed him a lucky winner of a US$10,000 in a lottery draw made many years ago. But the catch was that he wouldn't be able to receive the full amount unless he sends some amount to a certain address as processing and service fee. "Believing to myself that I was lucky enough, I sent a check to the addressee mentioned in the letter," Magno said. Instead of receiving the promised amount, h...