Noteboom The Law Firm

VA Facility Opens in the Philippines

A new Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) regional office building, which will also house a VA outpatient clinic, was recently opened in the Philippines. Aside from the obvious benefits this will provide Filipino and American veterans stationed in the Philippines, the building is the first VA facility opened abroad.

The $1.3 billion building is located in Pasay City, inside the US Embassy's compound. The facility is the headquarters for all medical and financial services provided to not only all US veterans living in the Philippines, but for specific Philippine nationals as well.

Almost 19,000 people have approached the US Embassy for medical and financial benefits. The outpatient clinic was constructed to top standards with laboratories considered state-of-the-art, which the College of American Pathologists have accredited.

The need for the building was obvious; the community is more than large enough to support its operations. The Filipino Veterans Equity Compensation Fund (FVEC) passed in February 2009. Since then, the US government has paid out more than $9 billion to 18,000 American and Filipino veterans, as well as their families. This is in addition to the VA paying out billions in disability compensation, pensions, educational and employment benefits.