Palace: ‘Small amount’ non-issue in Martial Law victims’ compensation

Malacañang dismissed as a non-issue the “small amount" of $1,000 to be given to each victim of violations of human rights during the Martial Law era, saying they already won a moral victory with a US Federal court’s order granting them compensation. Deputy presidential spokeswoman Abigail Valte said the important thing is that victims of rights abuses under Martial Law had been “vindicated" and that a wrong had been righted. “At this point, what happened to the victims cannot be paid for by any amount of money. The ruling is a vindication because the victims were fighting for the principle that a wrong had been committed and it had to be righted," she said in Filipino in an interview on government-run dzRB radio. “I understand that some people think $1,000 is not enough for the victims or those they left behind," she said. Besides, she said the 2011 ruling came 25 years after the suit was first filed. “It’s a vindication….," she added. However, Valte declined to comment on whether the US court ruling will be applicable to the Philippines. She said she will “check" the matter first with Solicitor General Jose Anselmo Cadiz. “This is something we’d like to check first," she said. Last Thursday, US District Judge Manuel Real approved the distribution of $7.5 million to settle a lawsuit filed by victims of violations of human rights under Ferdinand Marcos’ martial rule. [See story: US judge OKs payment of $7.5M to Marcos victims] The distribution plan provides victims their first opportunity to collect something since they filed the class-action suit in 1986. Each of the 7,526 eligible members of the class-action lawsuit will receive $1,000 under the plan approved by Real. Distribution may begin in mid-February and take about a month. The funds come from a $10-million settlement of a case against individuals controlling Texas and Colorado land bought with Marcos money. Legal fees and a payment to the person who located the properties will get most of the remaining $2.5 million of the settlement. But the Samahan ng mga Ex-detainees Laban sa Detensyon at Aresto (SELDA), a group of ex-detainees during the Marcos regime that led the 9,539 victims under the Martial Law period and initiated the filing of the class-action suit, raised three questions on the ruling, which it addressed to American lawyer Robert Swift to answer: