Bill seeks higher compensation for victims of unjust imprisonment

MANILA, Philippines — Victims of wrong imprisonment or detention may get bigger compensation for the injustice done to them, once a bill in the House of Representatives is passed into law. House Bill 6071 allows people imprisoned illegally to get a maximum recoverable amount of P100,000 and P10,000 for every month they have been incarcerated. "The original amount of P10,000 has depreciated so badly that its present value is probably a tenth of its worth in 1992, when the law was enacted. To make the spirit and intent of the law alive, it is imperative that the rates and ceiling of compensation be adjusted to a more contemporary level," author Rep. Giorgidi Aggabao (Isabela) said in an article on the House of Representatives website (www.congress.gov.ph). Under the present law, victims of unjust imprisonment may only get a P10,000 recoverable amount and P1,000 for every month a qualified claimant has been incarcerated. Aggabao's bill seeks to amend Republic Act No. 7309, which took effect on March 30, 1992. In pushing for his proposal, Aggabao said the amount awarded to victims under the current law is now paltry and inconsequential. RA 7309, which Aggabao described as a piece of landmark legislation, awards an indemnification of P1,000 for every month a qualified claimant has been incarcerated. In all other cases, the maximum recoverable amount is only P10,000 or the amount necessary to reimburse the claimant the expenses incurred for hospitalization, mental treatment, loss of wage, loss of support or other expenses directly related to the injury, whichever is lower. The bill also intends that the Board of Claims be constituted under the law and transferred from the Department of Justice (DOJ) to the Commission of Human Rights (CHR). "Since the victims most basic human rights - liberty - has been trampled, the CHR is the only entity that has jurisdiction over them," Aggabao said. - GMANews.TV