Bongbong downplays allegations of rights violations during father's rule

Saying there are new issues that need to be dealt with, senatorial aspirant Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. on Monday downplayed allegations of human rights violations during the 20-year-rule of his father, the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos. The younger Marcos, who is running under the banner of the Nacionalista Party, said over Unang Hirit's Hiritan 2010 that human rights violations that purportedly took place during his father's rule were never proven before the courts. "Hindi ko nalalaman ano yung mga ibig sabihin, ano yung tinutukoy nila diyan sa mga kaso ng human rights (I don't know what human rights cases they're talking about)," he said. "Sa lahat ng kaso na pinila kontra sa amin, hinaharap namin. At nakikita naman natin dahan-dahan dini-dismiss mga kasong yan dahil walang nakitang pruweba, wala namang napatunayan (We faced all the cases filed against us. And as we can see, all of these cases are being dismissed because there's no proof, nothing has been proven)." "There are no human rights cases against any Marcos," claimed the Ilocos Norte representative. Bongbong backtracked a little, however, when economist Winnie Monsod pointed out that a US court previously ruled in favor of Marcos-era human rights victims seeking compensation.
In 1995, the United States District Court in Hawaii ruled in favor of some 10,000 human rights victims' class suit against the Marcos estate, issuing a final judgment awarding the victims $2 billion. This was affirmed by the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in 1996. In May 1997, the victims filed a complaint with the Makati City Regional Trial Court for the enforcement of the US judgment. The Makati RTC dismissed the complaint for nonpayment of the correct docket fees, prompting the victims to elevate the case to the Supreme Court. In 2005, the Supreme Court, granting their petition, nullified the RTC ruling.The Marcoses filed an appeal before the Supreme Court. [See: Marcos wealth 20 years later: far too long, too little recovered] But Bongbong brushed off the US court's decision, saying it was "American public policy" to move against his family after his father was ousted from office and Corazon Aquino, whom the American leadership backed up, took over in 1986. "1986 was 24 years ago. Those issues were settled," Bongbong said without elaborating. "We are now in 2010, surely there are other issues that need to be dealt with and that people are asking about," he added. Bongbong, who served for four terms as Ilocos Norte governor--first in 1983 to 1986 then for three consecutive terms in 1998 to 2007--ran for the Senate in 1995 but lost. Recent senatorial preference surveys, however, show he is among the public's top 12 choices for senator in the May 10 elections. — RSJ, GMANews.TV