Noy urged to appoint martial law victim to claims’ board

MANILA, Philippines - Independent senatorial candidate Eddie Villanueva called on President Aquino on Friday to appoint a martial law victim to head the Human Rights Victims’ Claims Board.

Villanueva, who is running under the Bangon Pilipinas Party, urged the administration to immediately finalize the membership of the Claims Board and officially convene the panel to sustain the momentum started by the passage of the Human Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition Act of 2013.

In a statement, Villanueva said appointing a martial law victim to head the nine-member Human Rights Victims’ Claims Board will ensure that the body stays true to its mandate.

“Appointing a martial law victim to head the Claims Board will provide an assurance to fellow Filipinos who suffered during the Marcos dictatorship that they will receive the recognition and compensation that they deserve,” said Villanueva, who was also jailed twice for opposing the Marcos regime.

The founder of the Jesus is Lord Movement said a martial law victim “has a deeper understanding of what it truly means to be a victim and how much they and their families had to suffer because of the atrocities during the Marcos regime.”

President Aquino signed the law on Feb. 25 to highlight the EDSA People Power revolution anniversary celebration.

Earlier, Sen. Joker Arroyo told The STAR that the integrity and success of the human rights reparation law will be determined by the members of the claims board. 

Arroyo said the members should have personal knowledge about what really happened during the dictatorship, and those who knew the human rights violations to avoid fraudulent claims.

Under the law, the nine-member Human Rights Victims’ Claims Board is responsible for drafting the law’s implementing rules and regulations (IRR) as well as evaluating and processing the applications for the compensation due to the victims.

About P10 billion of recovered Swiss deposits of Marcos is intended to fund the claims, while the incremental interest of P500 million will be used to fund the operations of the Claims Board.

Villanueva and Arroyo separately agreed that the administration should waste no time in completing appointments to the Claims Board and target to convene the panel by March to fast-track the finalization of the crafting of the IRR. 

He said the speedy implementation would also pave the way for the immediate recognition and compensation of those who suffered under the Marcos regime.