Section 6Sec./Art. 6

Determination of Veterans Entitled to Benefit from this Act.

(a) The term veteran or veterans shall include primarily any person or persons who served in the regularly constituted air, land, or naval services or arms, or in such non-regularly organized military units in the Philippines during World War II, and whose services with such units are duly recognized by the Republic of the Philippines or by the government of the United States of America: Provided, That for the purposes of this Act, the term veteran or veterans also includes the widow, orphan or a compulsory heir of a deceased veteran, as determined by existing laws; and those veterans referred to under Republic Act No. 6948, as amended by Republic Act No. 9396: Provided, That post-World War II veterans and AFP retirees shall enjoy the benefits and privileges provided under this Act after they have invested in Philippine Veterans Bank.

(b) The term organized or acknowledged veterans organizations as used in this Act shall mean a veterans organization duly recognized or acknowledged as such by the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), both of which shall keep an official roster of such veterans organizations.

(c) The share of each beneficiary, war veteran or widow, orphan or compulsory heir of a deceased veteran, in the distribution of the benefits and in the ownership of shares, will be equal, regardless of rank and services rendered: Provided, That in the case of orphan or orphans of a deceased veteran, they shall be counted as one (1) unit only and the share of all of them regardless of their number will be the same or equal to that of a surviving war veteran or surviving widow.