Marcos victims hail US court ruling

A group of human rights victims of martial law expressed gladness yesterday over a recent decision of a US Court of Appeals affirming the judgment of the Hawaii District Court awarding approximately $40 million in favor of the 9,539 victims of human rights violations under the Marcos dictatorship.

Claimants 1081 described the decision as "sweet victory" for the Marcos victims.

"The decision is a sweet victory for the victims who have struggled since 1986 for justice and compensation and who, after having won a landmark decision of almost $2 billion in a class suit against the Marcos estate in 1986, have nevertheless received not a single centavo," said a statement issued by Rep. Loretta Anna Rosales and Roland Abiog, chairwoman and vice chairman, respectively, of Claimants 1081.

The group said the favorable judgment is a big boost to the cause of restorative justice and human rights.

In its unanimous decision, the court took notice that the class is "composed of victims of a rough and rapacious ruler, who often exercised arbitrary power" and is "a group whose suffering naturally evoke sympathy."

However, Claimants 1081 said this did not come easy as the victims’ lawyers had to initiate legal action in several countries and tirelessly search for the hidden wealth of the Marcoses.

The martial law victims filed a case in 2000 against Merrill Lynch, a New York-based company which was used to invest money for a  Panamanian corporation that was secretly owned by Marcos.

Claimants 1081 said as in other cases involving Marcos assets abroad it was the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) that was the main obstacle to the victims’ efforts at recovery.

"As our lawyers pointed out, the government repeatedly sought to prevent the US court from adjudicating the case, despite lack of evidence to support its claim, forcing over nine appeals to the US Court of Appeals, and even sought to remove distinguished US jurist Manuel Real from hearing the case," the group said.

The court had pointed out that the Republic had not taken steps to compensate the victims who suffered outrage from the extra-legal acts of Marcos.

Recently, PCGG Commissioner Ricardo Abcede has been trying to forge a compromise agreement with former first lady Imelda Romualdez-Marcos.

Abcede said the government is trying to recover all the hidden wealth of the Marcoses, in exchange for dismissal of the cases against the Marcoses.

Claimants 1081 said this is being done by the PCGG notwithstanding legal impediments like the 1998 Supreme Court decision and with disregard to Marcos’s accountabilities.

"We hope that the process of distribution of the money for the compensation of the victims can be started soon," the group said. "This tangible recovery of symbolic significance, as the Court put it, can go a long way in helping the victims and their heirs in rebuilding their lives, trust in the integrity and fairness of the processes of the US court."

It is indeed ironic that the victims cannot find redress from their own government and had no other recourse but to seek justice from a foreign court, Claimants 1081 said. — Sandy Araneta