REPUBLIC ACT NO. 1362 - AN ACT TO FURTHER AMEND REPUBLIC ACT NUMBERED SIXTY-FIVE, COMMONLY KNOWN AS THE PHILIPPINE VETERANS BILL OF RIGHTS.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress assembled:

SECTION 1. Section two of Republic Act Numbered Sixty-five entitled "An Act providing for a bill of rights for officers and enlisted men of the Philippine Army and of recognized or deserving guerrilla organizations, and veterans of the Philippine Revolutions, creating therefor a Philippine Veterans Board in the Department of National Defense, and for other purposes," as amended by Republic Act Numbered Five hundred seventy-seven, is further amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 2. Officers and enlisted men in good standing of the Philippine Army and of any recognized or deserving guerrilla organizations who took active participation in the resistance movement and/or in the liberation drive against the enemy who desire to study, or one child of a veteran in whose favor he renounces such right, c the widow or child of a deceased veteran in whose favor the same right is applied for by the surviving widow o legal guardian, shall, upon certification of the Chairman of the Philippine Veterans Board be admitted to any schoo college, university or institute authorized by the government, free from all school fees, including tuition, matriculation, athletic, library, laboratory, medical, ROTC, diploma and graduation fees: Provided , That if the widow remarries, she loses the benefits granted her under this section; provided, however , That if the veteran contracted two or more marriages and there are children in any or all of such marriages, or if the veteran and his wife died before the enactment of this law, the Philippine Veterans Board shall decide as to who of the children shall enjoy the benefits granted herein: Provided, further , That the length within which a veteran, or child of a deceased veteran, may enjoy this benefit shall be determined by the length of the veteran's war time service between the period of December eight, nineteen hundred and forty-one to December second, nineteen hundred and forty-five plus one school year but in no case less than two school years: Provided, further, That a school year shall mean four quarters or two semesters and one summer: Provided, further, That if after utilizing this period the veteran has not yet finished the course he is taking, the Board may in its discretion allow him to finish his course depending on his scholastic standing: Provided, further, That the veteran is considered not to be using the number of school years he is entitled to if he is enrolled only in the elementary grades or in the high school: Provided, further , That the educational benefit may be utilized for review courses such as the pre-bar, pre-board and the CPA reviews: Provided, further , That the board may in its discretion and for plausible reasons authorize the veteran to change the course which he has originally applied or which he is actually taking: Provided, further , that no private school, college, or institute can be compelled to accept any number which exceeds twenty-five per centum of its entire enrollment."

SEC. 2. Section three of the same Act, as amended by Republic Act Numbered Five hundred seventy-seven, is further amended to read as follows:

"Sec. 3. The benefits of the next preceding section shall be available only to those who signify their desire study to the Chairman of the Philippine Veterans Board not later than July thirty-one, nineteen hundred and fifty-six."

SEC. 3. Section nine of Republic Act Numbered Sixty five is hereby amended to read as follows:

"Sec. 9. The persons mentioned in sections one and two hereof who are permanently incapacitated from work owing to sickness, disease, or injuries sustained in line of duty, shall be given a life pension of fifty pesos month, and ten pesos a month for each of his unmarried minor children below eighteen years of age, unless they are actually receiving a similar pension from other government funds, and shall receive, in addition, the necessary hospitalization and medical care."

SEC 4. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

Approved, June 18, 1955.