GMA URGED TO PROVE CONCERN FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
VICTIMS BY CERTIFYING P10 BILLION COMPENSATION BILL

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino "Nene" Q. Pimentel, Jr. (PDP-Laban) today urged President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to prove her concern for the welfare of victims of human rights violations during the martial law by certifying the bill setting aside P10 billion from the recovered Marcos ill-gotten wealth to indemnify them.

Pimentel refiled the measure, entitled "Compensation Act to Victims of Human Rights Violations" (Senate Bill 1532), which was one of the priority bills that were left out when the 13th Congress adjourned last June.

Recalling that the President certified the bill as urgent as early as the 12th Congress, the minority leader said there is no reason why she should not do so now given the special attention that her administration is giving to the protection of human rights.

"Twenty one years after the ouster of the Marcos dictatorship, the victims of its human rights violations have not received any reparation for the pain they went through or for the loss they suffered. This bill proposes to correct that injustice," Pimentel said.

"The bill also acknowledges that compensation for victims of human rights violations is an obligation of the State. After all, it is the State that guarantees the civil and political rights of its citizens."

Pimentel said President Arroyo, in certifying the Human Rights Compensation Bill as urgent as early as the 12th Congress, acknowledged the need to "grant the long-delayed compensation for the human rights victims and to comply with the Republic's bilateral, as well as multilateral legal obligations arising from human rights and litigation."

Aside from this, the President ordered that P10 billion should be allocated for the purpose out of the proceeds of the Marcos bank deposits in Switzerland that were recovered by the government.

The bill had already been approved on third and final reading by the Senate and House under the 13th Congress. During the last three days of session of the 13th Congress last June, the Senate ratified the final version of the bill, but the House was unable to do so for vague and unjustified reasons.

The failure of the House to ratify the Human Rights Compensation Bill has only sparked suspicion that the money for the purpose had been diverted to the administration election campaign last May.

Pimentel said nobody can touch the P10 billion compensation for unauthorized purposes since this is supposed to be deposited in a separate trust account of the Bureau of Treasury in a government bank on behalf of the intended beneficiaries.

The senator from Mindanao said the violations of human rights committed by the Marcos regime were as varied as its victims. He said those with business or property COVETED by the regime were forced to give up their assets while those who opposed his rule were arrested and detained under the regime's travesty of the legal system.

"Many were subjected to torture and to unspeakable acts of cruelty. Others became victims of forced disappearances and remain missing to this day. Many more were summarily executed, 'salvaged' in secret or killed in ruthless public massacres. Others were forced into exile abroad," Pimentel said.

Under the bill, victims of martial law atrocities can file their indemnity claims with the Human Rights Victims Compensation Board.

The bill directs the Commission on Human Rights and the Presidential Commission on Good Government to implement this legislation.