B-171180, NOV. 19, 1970

B-171180, NOV. 19, 1970

MUSTERING-OUT PAY DENIAL OF CLAIM FOR MUSTERING-OUT PAY INCIDENT TO SERVICE WITH USAFFE DURING WORLD WAR II AS A STATE CLAIM. REQUEST FOR MUSTERING-OUT PAY MUST BE DENIED SINCE IT WAS NOT RECEIVED WITHIN THE 10 YEARS REQUIRED BY THE ACT OF OCTOBER 9, 1940, 54 STAT. 1061. NO SUBSEQUENT STATUTORY PROVISIONS HAVE CREATED ANY EXCEPTIONS TO THE ACT THAT APPLY TO FORMER PHILIPPINE SCOUTS.

TO MR. FLORENTINO L. PERALTA:

FURTHER REFERENCE IS MADE TO YOUR LETTER WHICH WAS RECEIVED IN OUR OFFICE ON OCTOBER 27, 1969. IN YOUR LETTER, YOU CLAIM MUSTERING-OUT PAY IN THE AMOUNT OF $3,600 INCIDENT TO YOUR SERVICE WITH THE UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES IN THE FAR EAST (USAFFE) FROM OCTOBER 22, 1941, TO MARCH 21, 1946.

YOUR CLAIM FOR MUSTERING-OUT PAY IN THE AMOUNT OF $300 WAS FIRST RECEIVED IN THE GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE ON APRIL 18, 1968. BY LETTER DATED MAY 7, 1968, IT WAS RETURNED TO YOU TOGETHER WITH A COPY OF THE ACT OF OCTOBER 9, 1940, 54 STAT. 1061, FOR THE REASON THAT THE CLAIM WAS FIRST RECEIVED IN THIS OFFICE MORE THAN TEN YEARS AFTER MARCH 21, 1946, DATE OF YOUR DISCHARGE AND THE DATE ANY CLAIM YOU MAY HAVE HAD FIRST ACCRUED.

BY LETTER OF JUNE 21, 1968, YOU REQUESTED RECONSIDERATION OF YOUR CLAIM MAINLY BECAUSE YOU SAID YOU HAD NOT BEEN NOTIFIED UNTIL RECENTLY OF THE AMOUNT BELIEVED DUE. IN REPLY, OUR CLAIMS DIVISION ADVISED YOU BY LETTER DATED SEPTEMBER 27, 1968, THAT THE 1940 BARRING ACT MAKES NO EXCEPTIONS WHICH WOULD PERMIT FAVORABLE ACTION ON CLAIMS OF INDIVIDUALS WHO BELATEDLY LEARN OF THEIR RIGHTS.

IN YOUR RECENT LETTER, YOU CLAIM MUSTERING-OUT PAY IN THE AMOUNT OF $3,600, SAID TO BE AUTHORIZED UNDER THE PROVISIONS OF ACT NO. 263 OF THE 88TH CONGRESS, DATED JANUARY 9, 1963, AND APPROVED SEPTEMBER 30, 1965. YOU ALSO REFER TO THE PROVISIONS OF 311-322 OF T.N. 502 (PRESUMABLY TM- 502), UNDER WHICH YOU SAY FORMER MEMBERS OF THE PHILIPPINE SCOUTS, ARMY OF THE UNITED STATES, WHO WERE HONORABLY DISCHARGED FROM THE SERVICE WERE ENTITLED TO MUSTERING-OUT PAY. YOU STATE FURTHER THAT THE REASON FOR YOUR DELAY IN FILING WAS THAT YOU RECEIVED THIS INFORMATION FROM THE U.S. VETERANS ADMINISTRATION OFFICE IN MANILA ON MARCH 21, 1969.

WE ARE NOT AWARE OF ANY STATUTORY PROVISION FOR THE PAYMENT OF $3,600 AS MUSTERING-OUT PAY TO MEMBERS OF THE UNIFORMED SERVICES INCLUDING PHILIPPINE SCOUTS. NEITHER CAN WE IDENTIFY THE LAW TO WHICH YOU REFER, SINCE NO PUBLIC LAW ENACTED BY THE FIRST SESSION OF THE 88TH CONGRESS IN 1963, WAS APPROVED PRIOR TO MARCH 6, 1963, AND NONE OF THE ACTS APPROVED ON SEPTEMBER 30, 1965, REFER TO MUSTERING-OUT PAY.

ANY MUSTERING-OUT PAYMENTS DUE MEMBERS OF THE UNIFORMED SERVICES AT THE TIME OF YOUR DISCHARGE FROM THE USAFFE WAS AUTHORIZED BY THE MUSTERING-OUT PAYMENT ACT OF 1944, CH. 9, 58 STAT. 8, AS AMENDED, 38 U.S.C. 691 (1946 ED.). THIS ACT PROVIDED FOR A MAXIMUM OF $300 TO CERTAIN PERSONS WHO SERVED 60 DAYS OR MORE IN THE ARMED FORCES OF THE UNITED STATES OUTSIDE THE CONTINENTAL LIMITS OF THE UNITED STATES OR IN ALASKA. UNDER TITLE II OF THE ACT OF MAY 27, 1946, 60 STAT. 223, THE BENEFITS OF THE 1944 ACT WERE MADE APPLICABLE TO THOSE PERSONS WHO SERVED IN THE PHILIPPINE SCOUTS UNDER THE PROVISIONS OF SECTION 14 OF THE ACT OF OCTOBER 6, 1945, 59 STAT. 543, AND THEY WERE TO BE PAID AT THE RATE OF ONE PHILIPPINE PESO FOR EACH AMERICAN DOLLAR AUTHORIZED BY SUCH LAW, OR A MAXIMUM OF 300 PESOS. PARAGRAPHS 311-322, TM 14-502, DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY, DATED AUGUST 14, 1946, CONTAINED REGULATIONS IMPLEMENTING THESE STATUTORY PROVISIONS.

AS YOU HAVE BEEN PREVIOUSLY ADVISED, THE ACT OF OCTOBER 9, 1940, 54 STAT. 1061 (A COPY OF WHICH IS ENCLOSED) PRECLUDES THIS OFFICE FROM CONSIDERING ANY CLAIM WHICH IS FIRST RECEIVED HERE MORE THAN TEN FULL YEARS FROM THE DATE SUCH CLAIM FIRST ACCRUED. SINCE YOUR CLAIM WAS FIRST RECEIVED IN THIS OFFICE ON APRIL 18, 1968, WHICH IS MORE THAN TEN YEARS FROM MARCH 21, 1946, THE DATE OF YOUR DISCHARGE, THE ACTION TAKEN BY OUR CLAIMS DIVISION IS SUSTAINED.