Lawmaker renews call to pass new compensation law for Martial Law victims

Kabataan party-list Representative Raoul Manuel on Wednesday renewed his call for the passage of a measure providing reparations to victims of the Martial Law regime of the late President Ferdinand Marcos, amid a threat made against survivor Bonifacio Ilagan.

House Bill 3505 or the New Human Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition Act of 2022 provides monetary and non-monetary aid to the victims of human rights violations carried out from 1972 to 1986.

Under the bill, reparations would be funded by P10 billion from the Marcos family's ill-gotten wealth in Swiss deposits that the Philippine Supreme Court forfeited in favor of the government on July 15, 2003. The amount of P10 billion from the total amount was allocated for the purpose by the existing Republic Act 10368, or the Human Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition Act of 2013.

Manuel and the rest of authors of House Bill 3505, however, said the 2013 law hardly covered the victims mainly because the Claims Board, which was only in tenure until May 2018, denied a lot of claim applications based on technicalities that would be remedied by the new law.

The 2013 law compensated around 11,000 victims, but human rights organizations list the number of human rights victims during the Martial Law regime at around 70,000.

"Responsibilidad ng gobyerno na protektahan at bigyang kompensasyon ang lahat ng victim-survivors ng Martial Law ni Marcos Sr. bilang pagtaguyod ng katotohanan at katarungan. Isusulong natin sa Kongreso ang House Bill 3505 para higit na tiyakin ito,” Manuel said in a statement.

(It is the government’s responsibility to give compensation to all the victims and survivors of Marcos Sr.’s Martial Law because in support of truth and justice. We are pushing for passage of House Bill 3505 to ensure this happens.)

“Ang mga Martial Law survivor ang buhay na patunay sa malagim na kasaysayan ng bansa sa ilalim ng diktadurang Marcos Sr. Kung di nila lubusang kayang patayin ang katotohanan, ang target naman nila ay ang mga nakaranas at magpapasa ng totoong kasaysayan sa susunod na henerasyon,” Manuel added.

(Martial law survivors are living proof of the country’s dark past under the dictatorship of Marcos, Sr. If they cannot kill the truth entirely, their next target are the ones who will tell the country’s history to the next generation.)

Under House Bill 3505, the reparation for each victim would be in accordance with the number of points assigned to the individual as follows:

• victims who died or who disappeared and are still missing - 10 points
• victims who were tortured and/or raped or sexually abused - six to nine points
• victims who were detained - three to five points
• other human rights violations - one to two points

Ilagan—playwright, activist, and convenor of the Campaign Against the Return of the Marcoses and Martial Law—last week said he received a threatening phone call from a person who called himself a “kumander” saying they were waiting for the order to "get him."

Manuel said the incident should be addressed abruptly.

“Binigyang-daan ng walang habas na kampanyang disimpormasyon at pagbansag sa mamamayang lumalaban bilang mga terorista itong death threat kay Ka Boni. Hindi dapat hayaan ang ganitong mga banta. Dapat ipagdiwang at pagpugayan natin ang kabayanihan ng mga nakibaka sa Martial Law. Ang kalayaan at demokrasya natin ngayon ay bunga rin ng sakripisyo,” Manuel said.

(The disinformation campaign and tagging opposition members as terrorists give way to such threats for Ka Boni. We should celebrate and honor the heroism of those who resisted Martial Law. Our freedom and democracy today is the fruit of these sacrifices.)

“We fully support the investigation being conducted by the Commission on Human Rights on this matter so that perpetrators will be held accountable immediately,” Manuel added. — BM, GMA Integrated News