Seventy-five years ago, my grandparents and many of the elders who shaped whom I’ve become today were thrust into a war not of their making. They were left defenseless to an invading force that the United States knew was coming. And they were not warned or prepared for what would follow — two-and-a-half years of hunger, fear, suffering and extreme loss.
Nearly 1,200 Chamorros died during the war and nearly 15,000 survived, many haunted by that trauma for the rest of their lives. Today, less than 10 percent of them remain. How terribly sad it is that, almost eight decades since the war ended, they are finally being given reparations. But not from the U.S. government, which was obligated through its own treaty with Japan to pay the reparations, but rather from their own government.
The government of Guam will be paying for war reparations with one of its major sources of annual revenue, Section 30 Funds.
Guam Del. Madeleine Bordallo introduced an amendment to the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act, which passed Congress on the anniversary of the Japanese invasion of Guam. It mandates that if the government of Guam collects more than the amount of Section 30 funds that were collected in 2014 — which has been reported to be $70 million — this money be put into a Claims Fund to pay war reparations.  
According to the Guam Office of Finance and Budget, “Section 30 of the Organic Act of Guam requires that all customs duties and federal income taxes, quarantine, passport, immigration, and naturalization fees collected on Guam shall be covered into the Treasurer of Guam. These include federal income taxes from military personnel based on-island or (who) consider Guam as their state of legal residence.”
These funds are used annually to pay for Guam’s government operations, including education, infrastructure and many other important services that impact our daily lives. They are funds that are legally owed to the people of Guam for hosting the United States military on our island. This is money owed to Guam no matter what. Thus, Guam is paying its own reparations.
In order to acquire more than $70 million in Section 30 funds annually (needed to pay war claims), Guam would have to welcome more military personnel to the island — we would have to put ourselves at risk of a future war in order to pay for the crimes of a past war.
To add insult to injury, Guam will also have to pay the federal government for the war reparations. According to the amendment, “The Secretary of the Treasury shall deduct from any amounts deposited into the Claims Fund an amount equal to 5 percent of such amounts as reimbursement to the federal government for expenses incurred … in the administration of this title.”
The congresswoman’s office has reported that the Section 30 funding source was just a “placeholder” to get the legislation passed and that they are hoping another funding source will be identified. But that is truly a gamble considering the federal government’s unwillingness to pay reparations over all these years. Section 30 funding is the source identified in the law and will more than likely be the only source used to make these payments.
Also, reparations won’t be paid right away. The U.S. Foreign Claims Settlement Commission will take the next six months determining the rules and regulations and process for filing claims, and claims cannot be paid until enough Section 30 funds have been generated.
Almost daily we read obituaries announcing the passing of our war survivors. And this law does not allow their descendants to make claims on their behalf once they have passed. Thus, they and their families will never see the justice they have waited decades for. The law does, however, allow for descendants of those who were killed in the war to file claims, but there are limitations on who qualifies as a descendent. Only the person’s parents, spouse, or children can file such claims. Since the war happened so long ago, many eligible descendants have likely passed, too.
As a writer, I have had the honor and blessing of interviewing and helping to tell the stories of our island’s war survivors. They are a courageous and incredible group of people and they deserve better.
Victoria-Lola M. Leon Guerrero is a co-chair of the Independence for Guam Task Force.