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HRD-82-46 1 (1982-03-15)

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UNITED STATES GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFTCZ
        WASHINGTON, D.C. ZS4S


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HUMAN RESOURCES
   0IVISION


B-206607


MARCH 15, 1982





     117796


The Honorable Alan Cranston
United States Senate


Dear Senator Cranston:

      Subject: VA Forfeiture Decisions Highlight the Need to
                Strengthen the Procedural Protections Afforded
                Filipino Veterans and Their Survivors Residing
                in the Philippinei (HRD-82-46)

      Pursuant to your request as Chairman, Senate Committee 'on
 Veterans' Affairs, we reviewed a 5-year sample of Veterans
 Administration (VA) forfeiture decisions to determine whether
 Filipino veterans and their survivors were afforded procedural due
 process.

     Over the 5-year period ended December 1980, VA rendered about
 1,200 forfeiture decisions because of alleged fraud or treason.
 Forfeiture is an administrative penalty that revokes entitlement
 to gratuitous benefits, such as pension or disability compensation
 benefits, which an individual may be receiving or would have re-
 ceived in the future. Virtually all VA forfeitures are based on
 cases from the Philippines.

     While it has not been established that Filipino veterans and
their survivors residing in the Philippines are entitled to a con-
stitutional right to due process, VA acknowledges an obligation to
afford all fundamental fairness to such Filipinos.

     Our review of past forfeiture cases from the Philippines
shows that questionable procedures and practices have sometimes
resulted in unfair treatment. For example:


                                                           (400479)


,11 I

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