CONTENTS VI WITNESSES Miller, Hon. George P., a Representative in Congress from the State Waring, Frank A., former Chairman, U.S. Philippine War Damage Calhoun, A. D., vice president, Far Eastern district, First National City Bank of New York, representing the Philippine American Gideon, David B., attorney at law, San Francisco, Calif O'Donnell, John A., attorney at law, Washington, D.C., and former member, U.S. Philippine War Damage Commission.. Schein, Ernest, attorney at law, and former chief examiner, U.S. 36 Leddy, John M., Special Assistant to the Under Secretary of State_-_ Mein, John Gordon, Director, Office of Southwest Pacific Affairs, Statement submitted by Hon. Donald J. Irwin, a Representative in Con- Memorandum supplied for the record concerning number of foreign nations Biographies of Commissioners of the Philippine War Damage Commission Text of Department of State press release on U.S. replies to Philippine "omnibus" claims, August 4, 1959__ Excerpt from Congressional Record of May 5, 1959, containing remarks of Hon. George P. Miller on payment of balance of awards made by Philippine War Damage Commission__ Statement submitted by Francisco A. Delgado, former member, Philippine War Damage Commission, in support of pending bills authorizing pay- ment of balance of awards for war damage made by Philippine War Letter to Hon. Clement J. Zablocki from Joseph P. Tumulty, Jr., Breed, Abbott & Morgan, attorneys, Washington, D.C., in support of H.R. Telegram from John W. Mears, Hayward, Calif., to Hon. Clement J. Zablocki, in support of pending bills relating to Philippine war damage Supplemental statement submitted by David B. Gideon on behalf of the Philippine Societies of California and New York in support of bills 9-10 18 III List of letters received by Hon. Clement J. Zablocki in support of H.R. Sample letters received by Hon. Clement J. Zablocki, chairman, Sub- committee on the Far East and the Pacific, in support of pending legislation concerning Philippine war damage claims. Letter to Hon. Clement J. Zablocki from Hon. William B. Macomber, Jr., Assistant Secretary of State, containing comments of Department of State on draft bill relating to Philippine War Damage claims and setting forth number of American citizens who would receive payment under the proposed legislation, in what currency, and how many pesos the TABLE SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD Private property claims: Number received; amounts claimed, approved, Page 78-80 76 PHILIPPINE WAR DAMAGE CLAIMS THURSDAY, MARCH 17, 1960 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE FAR EAST AND THE PACIFIC, Washington, D.C. The subcommittee met at 2:30 p.m., in room G-3, U.S. Capitol, Hon. Clement J. Zablocki (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Mr. ZABLOCKI. The Subcommittee on the Far East and the Pacific will please come to order. We are meeting this afternoon to discuss the proposed legislation authorizing the payment of the unpaid balance of the Philippine War Damage Claims. We are delighted to have our colleague from California, the Honorable George P. Miller, a cosponsor, who had sponsored similar legislation in Congress in the past and is a prime mover in rectifying this obligation. The text of H.R. 4287 (by Mr. Miller, of California) and H.R. 4311 (by Mr. Zablocki, of Wisconsin) is as follows: A BILL To authorize the payment of the balance of awards for war damage compensation made by the Philippine War Damage Commission under the terms of the Philippine Rehabilitation Act of April 30, 1946, and to authorize the appropriation of $130,000,000 for that purpose Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That there be paid by the United States the balance in full of awards for war damage compensation made by the Philippine War Damage Commission under the terms of the Philippine Rehabilitation Act of April 30, 1946: That the sum of $130,000,000 be and is hereby authorized to be appropriated out of any money in the Treasury of the United States not otherwise appropriated for the purpose aforesaid; That said sum be disbursed by the Treasurer of the United States in accordance with the records of the United States-Philippine War Damage Commission now in the custody of the Treasury Department of the United States; and That so much of said amount as may be necessary be used for the payment of private claims shown by said record to have been approved by said Philippine War Damage Commission, to complete the payment of a maximum of 75 per centum of the full awards of private claims provided in the said Philippine Rehabilitation Act of April 30, 1946. (The following committee prints, which were before the subcommittee, are also submitted for inclusion in the record at this point :) [Committee Print No. 1] A BILL To authorize the payment of the balance of awards for war damage compensation made by the Philippine War Damage Commission under the terms of the Philippine Rehabilitation Act of April 30, 1946, and to authorize the appropriation of $73,000,000 for that purpose Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission (hereafter in this Act referred to as the "Commission") shall provide, 1 out of funds appropriated pursuant to this Act, for the payment of the unpaid balance of awards heretofore made by the Philippine War Damage Commission under title I of the Philippine Rehabilitation Act of 1946. No payment shall be made under this Act to any person, or to his successors in interest, on account of any award unless payment was made on such award under the Philippine Rehabilitation Act of 1946, and the maximum amount paid under this Act, when added to amounts paid under the Philippine Rehabilitation Act of 1946 and section 7 of the War Claims Act of 1948 on account of any claim shall not exceed the aggregate amount of claims approved in favor of such claimant after reduction under the last proviso of section 102 (a) of the Philippine Rehabilitation Act of 1946. Amounts paid under this Act shall not be subject to the provisions of section 104 (c) of the Philippine Rehabilitation Act of 1946. SEC. 2. Within sixty days after the enactment of this Act, or of legislation appropriating for administrative expenses incurred in carrying out this Act, whichever is later, the Commission shall prescribe, and publish in the Federal Register and give appropriate publicity in the Republic of the Philippines concerning, the period, not in excess of twelve additional months, within which application must be filed under this Act. The Commission shall complete its determination with respect to applications filed under this Act not later than two years after the last date on which applications may be filed. SEC. 3. The Commission shall give maximum publicity in the Republic of the Philippines to the provisions of this Act, and through utilization of the records of the former Philippine War Damage Commission shall attempt to notify individual claimants of their right to file applications for payment under this Act, by mailing notice thereof to the last known address of such claimants as shown by such records. SEC. 4. The Commission shall notify all applicants of the approval or denial of their applications, and if approved, shall notify such applicants of the amount for which such applications are approved. Any applicant whose application is denied, or is approved for less than amount of such application, shall be entitled, under such regulations as the Commission may prescribe, to a hearing before the Commission or its representative with respect to such application. Upon such hearing, the Commission may affirm, modify, or reverse its former action with respect to such application, including a denial or reduction in the amount of award theretofore approved. All findings of the Commission concerning the persons to whom compensation pursuant to this Act is payable, and the amounts thereof, shall be conclusive and not be reviewable by any court. SEC. 5. (a) Each award made under this Act shall be certified to the Secretary of the Treasury in terms of United States currency for payment out of sums appropriated pursuant to section 8 of this Act. Such payments shall be made in accordance with such regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe. Where any claimant, to whom an award has been made under this Act, resides in the Republic of the Philippines, payment of such award shall be made in Philippine pesos. (b) Such of the records of the Philippine War Damage Commission as the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission may deem necessary for carrying out its functions under this Act shall be transferred to the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission. SEC. 6. The total remuneration on account of services rendered or to be rendered to or on behalf of any applicant in connection with any application filed under this Act shall not exceed 10 per centum of the amount paid by the Commission on account of such application. Any agreement to the contrary shall be unlawful and void. Whoever, subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, violates this section shall be fined not more than $5,000 or imprisoned for not more than one year, or both. Where any payment is made in violation of this section, the Commission shall take such action as may be appropriate to recover the same. SEC. 7. For the purposes of carrying out this Act, the following provisions of the International Claims Settlement Act of 1949 shall, to the extent not inconsistent with this Act, be applicable in the administration of this Act: Subsections (c), (d), (e), and (i) of section 4; subsections (d) and (e) of section 7; and subsection (c) of section 7 except that with respect to applicants not subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, references in such subsection (c) to the Comptroller General of the United States shall be deemed to refer to the Secretary of the Treasury. SEC. 8. There is authorized to be appropriated not more than $73,000,000 to 'make payments on awards certified pursuant to this Act, plus such additional sums as may be necessary for the administrative expenses of the Commission and of the Secretary of the Treasury in carrying out this Act. [Committee Print No. 2] A BILL To authorize the payment of the balance of awards for war damage compensation made by the Philippine War Damage Commission under the terms of the Philippine Rehabilitation Act of April 30, 1946, and to authorize the appropriation of $73,000,000 for that pupose Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That there is hereby authorized to be paid by the Government of the United States to the Government of the Republic of the Philippines a sum not to exceed $73,000,000 in full satisfaction and final settlement of all awards for war damage compensation made by the Philippine War Damage Commission under the terms of title I of the Philippine Rehabilitation Act of 1946 (60 Stat. 128). SEC. 2. There is hereby authorized to be appropriated out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated the amount of $73,000,000 less the amount determined by the Secretary of the Treasury in consultation with the Secretary of State to be owing to the Government of the United States by the Government of the Philippines under the terms of the agreement relating to the repayment of funds advanced to the National Defense Forces, Republic of the Philippines, by the United States Philippines-Ryukyus Command signed at Washington November 6, 1950, and entered into force on that date. SEC. 3. There is hereby authorized to be appropriated out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated a sum not to exceed $10,000 which shall be available to the Secretary of the Treasury for administrative expenses which may be incurred in supplying records appropriate and needed by the Philippine Government consistent with the purposes of this Act, and the transfer to the Philippine Government of such records is hereby authorized. STATEMENT OF HON. GEORGE P. MILLER, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA Mr. MILLER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Having had the privilege of being a member of the Commission to represent our Government at the inauguration of the Philippine Republic, as I look down the list now I think Senator Ellender is the only other man in Congress who was present on that great occasion, on July 4, 1946. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, almost 10 years have elapsed since I appeared before the Committee on Foreign Affairs to testify in behalf of a bill which I had introduced in the 81st Congress to authorize an additional $100 million for the principal purpose of paying up to the extent authorized by the Philippine Rehabilitation Act the awards of the Philippine War Damage Commission. Intervening events and my personal experiences in Congress have only served to emphasize my firm conviction that the balances left unpaid upon the awards through our failure in the past to authorize sufficient funds for this purpose should be paid without further delay. I said in my testimony of a decade ago: It seems to me that there are many reasons why this proposed legislation should be passed. First, we have a distinct moral obligation to pay it and that is a most important reason. The passing of time has not impaired the morality of our obligation to complete the payments which we undertook by law to discharge. If since attaining independence the Republic of the Philippines had been able to completely restore itself after the ravages of war and attain favorable economic stability I believe that our obliga |