Duterte extends distribution period of Martial Law victims' compensation

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte signed a joint resolution extending the maintenance, availability and release of funds intended for victims of human rights violations during the Marcos regime until the end of the year. 

The president signed the joint resolution last February 22, documents released by Malacañang Thursday showed. 

The resolution also authorized the treasury bureau and the Land Bank of the Philippines to release the funds and the Commission on Human Rights to administer the distribution of the compensation. 

Under the Human Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition Act of 2013, the reparation for the victims will come from a P10-billion fund plus accrued interest that form part of the funds transferred to the Philippines by virtue of a Swiss Federal Court ruling.

READ: Duterte says no proof Marcoses amassed ill-gotten wealth despite overwhelming evidence

In 1997, the Swiss Federal Supreme Court ordered the return of Marcos' Swiss bank deposits to the Philippines subject to two conditions.

The court required a final and executory ruling declaring the funds as ill-gotten and the giving of a rightful share of the funds to victims of human rights violations who won a class suit against the Marcos estate in a Honolulu court.

The 2013 law required the Human Rights Victims Claims Board to complete its work within two years from the effectivity of its implementing rules. 

Another law was passed in April 2016 to extend the effectivity of the Human Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition Act from May 12, 2014 to May 12, 2018. 

As of May 11, 2018, the HRVCB has approved and recognized 11,103 legitimate claimants out of more than 75,000 applicants. The board has also resolved 6,737 appeals as of May 6, 2018. 

The checks issued by the board to the victims were valid only up to three months from issuance. 

The joint resolution noted that as of June 28, 2018, the HRVCB's account with the Land Bank of the Philippines had a balance of P792.628 million that can only be maintained until Aug. 11, 2018. The balance will then be returned to the treasury bureau. 

The joint resolution said some of the families of claimants had experienced difficulties encashing the checks. 

"There have been reports from several approved claimants' relatives that they were not able to encash the checks even with the issuance of Special Power of Attorney," the resolution read. 

"Many of the claimants are concerned of the time constraint to process matters relating to the distribution of money claims until 11 August 2018," it added. 

The joint resolution also noted that the HRVCB had issued 451 "problematic" checks to victims. 

A total of 291 checks worth more than P239 million were unreleased while 160 checks worth more than P110 million were issued to payees who have died. 

"It is the sense of the Senate and the House of Representatives that the funds be effectively distributed, especially to the approved and qualified claimants as duly processed and determined by the HRVCB," the joint resolution read. 

To address the concerns of claimants, Congress issued a resolution extending the maintenance, availability and release of funds until Dec. 31, 2019.