8 nabbed for claiming to be rights victims during Marcos era

Eight people were arrested on Wednesday for using fake documents to claim the compensation meant for victims of human rights violations during the Marcos regime. Members of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) of the Philippine National Police arrested two recruiters and six others who use fake identification cards to claim the $1,000 (about P43,000) compensation per victim.

In a report on morning newscast "News To Go," CIDG Chief Inspector Renato Ocampo said the people behind the scam use names of victims who have not claimed their compensation, and they recruit people who will act as these "victims." Each recruited person who will act as the victim was asked to submit ID pictures which will then be used for the fake IDs. In turn, the recruited people received P1,500 for being an accomplice. Ocampo said that the group had already encashed checks worth P120,000 during their illegal operations. Felicidad Bulilan, one of the six arrested for using fake IDs, said she was encouraged to participate because of the "easy money," which she said she will use to buy medicines. "Sandali lang, magkakaroon kami ng pera na P1,500. (Sabi nila) sige, walang sabit 'to, kami bahala sa inyo," she said. Another arrested accomplice said they were informed that nobody was going to claim the money anyway, so they might as well claim it. "Wala nang nag-claim, kaysa naman pakinabangan ng iba," she said. The CIDG said they will conduct further investigation on the matter, saying that a bigger group must be behind the operations. In January this year, a ruling from the US District Court of Hawaii ordered the distribution of $7.5 million to victims of human rights violations under the rule of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos. More than 7,500 claimants were eligible to receive the compensation. The Commission on Human Rights started distributing the $1,000 compensation in March this year. — with Candice Montenegro/RSJ, GMA News