In 1996, the sons and daughter of the late Erasto R. Batongmalaque, a Bataan Death March survivor, POW, and retired Colonel of the Philippine Army, founded the Erasto R. Batongmalaque Foundation a year after his death, to improve the quality of lives of the disadvantaged mature individuals specially those who participated in an armed global conflict in their youth. In 2002, the E.R.B. Foundation established the dba, Filipino Veterans Foundation as a 501 (c)-3, tax-exempt, charitable organization and became a tenant of the Bob Hope Patriotic Hall in Los Angele. Currently, the FVF continues its programs at the DPSS Building, 2615 S. Grand Ave., Room 100, Los Angeles, CA 90007 for a weekly meeting of the PTSD group therapy, and fellowship meetings. At the Filipino Veterans Foundation we offer:

1. Community program, with a hot meal, dancing and recreational day tours.



2. The strong advocacy by the Foundation has been accepted by the Dept. of VA as being a determined staff to assist them in the process, particularly in articulating their needs and pursuing their burden of proof.



3. A monthly food distribution is continuously managed by the FVF in cooperation with the Food Bank Center, a federally-funded program for seniors at the Lake St. Park in the Historic Filipino town, where the Wall of Valor is located.



4. The Filipino Veterans Foundation has taken the initiative to seek the participation of the leadership of the community leaders in Southern California, and the leaders have stepped up to the plate and taken the challenge to assist the Filipino WWII Veterans, their spouses and widows, regardless the outcome of the Filipino Equity Bill still pending in Congress.



5. Assistance in applying for benefits for FVF veterans and their service-connected disabilities. At FVF we make sure that those who were previously denied are now given a second look.

Every year the FVF has sponsored 4 events in history which memorializes the fact that Filipinos fought side by side with Americans in WWII. They are namely:

• July 26, 1941, the establishment of the USAFFE, integrating the Philippine Commonwealth Army with the American garrison;
• Dec. 8, 1941, the outbreak of WWII in the Philippines;
• April 9, 1942, the Fall of Bataan, or Day of Valor;
• October 20, 1944, the Return to the Philippines at the Leyte Landing.