THE US Senate has approved the release of $198 million to compensate thousands of Filipino-American veterans who fought during World War II, but American legislators opposing the bill may have the appropriation dropped when the US Congress comes out with a reconciled version.

The US Senate appropriated the amount in the $838.2-billion economic stimulus package proposed by US President Barack Obama to reward about 18,000 Filipinos who fought in the war under the American flag, and at the urging of Democratic Senator Daniel Inouye, who was also a World War II veteran.

The Senate version provides a one-time payment of $15,000 for

Filipino veterans in the US and $9,000 for those living in the Philippines. The bill passed the Senate on Monday, but the allocation was not in the House version of the economic stimulus bill.

The final version of the economic stimulus bill is expected to be voted on by Congress by today, but the future of the appropriation for Filipino veterans is still in doubt because Republican congressmen criticized the allocation as an example of pork-barrel spending, and American veterans have claimed that not all Filipino veterans were wounded in battle.

Some congressmen have also threatened to introduce changes in the provision that would prohibit the remittance of money to veterans living in the Philippines.

Filipino-American war veterans, most of whom are in their twilight years, delivered letters of support to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s home in San Francisco, while Ambassador to the US Willy Gaa continued to meet with Inouye to make sure the appropriation stayed in the final version. AP