by pna
The
Philippines and Switzerland have agreed to work closely together to fast-track the immediate release of compensation funds for Martial Law victims, Presidential Communication and Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said on Monday.
Coloma said the agreement was reached during a bilateral meeting between
Philippine President Benigno S. Aquino III and Swiss Confederation President Eveline Widmer-Sclumpf at the sidelines of the 9th Asia-Business Meeting being held here from November 5 to 6.
He said the President “promised to do what is needed to complete the process of getting the
compensation paid out eventually to the intended beneficiaries.â€
“So this means clearing whatever administrative or procedural hurdles that still needs to be handled or resolved,†Coloma said.
“So that was taken up and both parties agree to work toward an early completion of this compensation process,†he added.
A Hawaii court ordered the
Marcos family to pay US$ 776-million in damages to
Martial Law victims in September 1992 following a class action suit filed against the former dictator by 9,539 victims.
Although a total of
P35 billion (US$ 833 million) have already been recovered from the
Marcos family by past administrations, the victims have not yet been compensated due to many factors -- one of which is the need to pass legislation to appropriate part of the sequestered funds from the Marcoses for the victims of Martial Law because the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law provides that all sequestered assets from the Marcos family would be utilized for the implementation of land reform program of the government.
Linkback:
https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=56642.0
Topic: Compensation for Philippine Martial Law Victims (Read 859 times)