I heard there is a Veteran in Angeles, maybe at the VFW, that helps Vets apply for benefits. Does anyone have that contact? Thank you.
The RAO in Angeles does it. 1825 MacArthur Hwy in Balibago. Same location as the VFW. Jim Boyd is the Director.
I had someone pass along some information to me yesterday. He said that the DAV (Disabled American Veterans) helped him jump up from 30% to 70%. Might be worth a look. Not sure if it is available to veterans living in the Philippines but it couldn't hurt to ask them. He said you didn't have to be a member for them to help out, although it may help speed up the process by obtaining some sort of priority number. It looks like the membership discounts are mainly for those CONUS...but are discounts really the reason you would join such an organization?
I highly recommend the VFW. They have an office at the VA in Manila and in Angeles. Tony can tell you what days the VSO is in Manila. It may also be possible to communicate by phone to get your claim filed. The previous VSO did mine over the phone. I don't know what Tony's policy for that is.They helped me go from 30% to 100%. You will need a copy of your military medical records to include with the claim. which you can request from https://vetrecs.archives.gov/VeteranRequest/home.html You will also need any civilian medical records from the time you separated until present. You can also file the claim yourself on Ebenefits. At the very least you can start the claim on ebenifits to establish an effective date as they give retroactive pay beginning from the effective date. It will take several months for any VSO to file a claim and then about 3-6 months for the va to make a decision, in the mean time your retroactive pay will be accumulating. You have 1 year to submit a claim once it is started. If you have any questions you can message me.
There is also a website called veterans benefit network that has multiple forums about veterans benefits. There are moderators who are or were previously claims processors at the VA that help vets with questions about claims and benefits. The url is http://vetsbenefits.net
