Martial law claims processing completed by 2017

Given the massive number of claimants, the Human Rights Victims' Claims Board (HRVCB) said Wednesday the vetting of claims of Martial Law victims for compensation will be finished by late next year.

HRVCB Chairperson Lina Sarmiento said they have so far processed roughly 23 percent or 17,000 out of 75,000 applications.

The claims come from victims and the next of kin of those who have suffered, died or disappeared during the Martial Law years under the late President Ferdinand Marcos.

Sarmiento was at the Supreme Court as a resource person for deliberations on whether the late dictator could be given a hero's burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

Some individuals who claimed to have suffered abuses at the hands of soldiers during the dictatorship also recounted their ordeal before the magistrates.

The Board has until May 12, 2018 to finish processing the compensation due to Martial Law victims, according to Republic Act No. 10368 or the Human Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition Act of 2013.

The funds will be sourced from the P10 billion recovered by the government from the ill-gotten wealth of the Marcoses. —BAP/KG, GMA News