Filed Under: Justice & Rights, Litigation & Regulations, Graft & Corruption, Crime and Law and Justice
MANILA, Philippines—Twenty-five years after the dictator Ferdinand Marcos was ousted in the 1986 People Power revolution, victims of his oppressive regime will at long last receive some compensation for their suffering.
The settlement will be paid out starting March 1, the US-based Kohn Swift and Graf law office informed the class action claimants in a letter dated Feb. 7.
“It is my great pleasure to inform you that your claim is eligible for payment for the peso equivalent of $1,000 from the settlement fund in this litigation,” said the letter signed by Robert Swift, the class suit lead counsel.
Last January, Honolulu Judge Manuel Real approved the distribution of $7.5 million to settle a class action suit filed in 1986 by rights abuse victims of the Marcos regime.
In 1995, a landmark decision by a US federal jury in Honolulu found the Marcos estate liable for torture, summary executions and disappearances of about 10,000 people and awarded the victims $2 billion in damages.
A total of 9,539 victims had joined the class suit but this number has been reportedly reduced to 7,526 because of questions of eligibility.
Claimants should have submitted both the 1993 and 1999 claim forms in order to be considered eligible. (This reporter and an Inquirer editor are claimants.)
The money will be distributed at the office of the Commission on Human Rights, SAAC Building, UP complex, Quezon City, from March 1 to 7. The letter clarified that the CHR is allowing the use of its space but is not participating in the distribution.
Payment will only be made in person. The office will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day from March 1 to 7.
Claimants with last names beginning with the letters A through E must appear on March 1; F through J, March 2; K through O, March 3; P through T, March 4; V through Z, March 7. Those who cannot appear on these dates will be seen on March 7.
Claimants may not come on any other day.
Claimants have to bring with them the original of the Feb. 7, 2011, letter and any two of the following forms of identification: Voter’s ID, GSIS, SSS, driver’s license, TIN, NBI clearance with picture, seaman’s book issued by Marina, senior citizen ID, postal ID, or any other government-issued photo ID.
No one will receive payment unless his or her identity is verified. No power of attorney will be accepted. If the claimant is deceased, a death certificate must be presented by the next of kin.
After receiving payment, payees will sign a receipt of payment, photographs will be taken and kept by class counsel to be used to verify identities should there be future distribution.
The check will be in Philippine pesos in the claimant’s name drawn on a local bank so that the payee may deposit or cash the check on the same day the payment is received.
Swift clarified that class counsel receives compensation through the court so there is no obligation on the part of claimants to pay class counsel.
The court has also ruled that if a claimant is represented by a personal counsel in the litigation, personal counsel may not receive more than five percent of the payment.
No human rights organization or other group is entitled to any portion of the claimant’s payment.
According to Swift, the litigation to collect on the 1995 judgment continues, so there could be additional distributions in the future.
The settlement looks like a miserable pittance compared to the claimants’ claim against the billions of dollars in ill-gotten Marcos wealth.
But no one is protesting because this could just be the first tranche, and there could be more distributions in the future.
And more importantly, “this is not about the money but a historic victory that would vindicate the human victims of an evil reign,” stressed one claimant.
Posts
