MANILA, Philippines — The final list of martial law rights victims who are eligible for monetary reparations will be out tomorrow, according to the Human Rights Victims’ Claims Board (HRVCB).
HRVCB chair Lina Sarmiento said yesterday that they would spend the weekend reviewing the appeals of around 1,000 petitioners whose claims were earlier rejected by the board.
Sarmiento said the list would be published in at least two newspapers of general circulation.
“We need to produce the list. Without it, we cannot start paying,” Sarmiento said in a news forum in Quezon City.
As of noon yesterday, there were 11,029 eligible claimants, or 14.56 percent of the 75,730 claims filed before the board.
On Tuesday, the HRVCB will start distributing the financial compensation to victims of martial law under former president Ferdinand Marcos, until the board ceases operations on May 12 as provided under Republic Act 10368.
The law mandates that victims of human rights violations should be given reparation.
Sarmiento advised eligible claimants to submit their savings account numbers with the Land Bank of the Philippines for the transfer of the funds.
Any remaining amount not collected by the claimants will be returned to the national treasury, Sarmiento said.
The government earmarked P9.75 billion obtained from the Marcos Swiss deposits for the reparation of martial law victims.
Of the 6,300 appeals filed before the HRVCB, at least 5,000 were rejected.
“We have approved only about 50 appeals so far,” she said.
Sarmiento said they would finish the review of at least 1,000 appeals this weekend.
She said some of the petitions they rejected were found to be false claims while other claimants failed show proof they were victims of human rights abuses during martial law.
Sarmiento said the board plans to file cases against these false claimants, whose number she said has yet to be determined.
One claimant said a sibling was killed during martial law, but the board found out the supposed victim is still alive.
Other appeals were asking for compassionate justice, which Sarmiento said could not be granted as the board decides based on evidence.
She said the amount of reparation for each legitimate claimant would be based on the total number of points awarded to all eligible claimants.
Each point corresponds to P170,000 in cash, she said.