Friday, September 21, 2007 Marcos victims remain victims By Grace L. Plata
TWENTY-one years after the declaration of Martial Law, human rights victims during that time have not received any kind of compensation or benefits even after the government have confiscated part of the Marcoses wealth.
This was the lament of Leon Bolcan who is affiliated with Selda-Davao, an organization of former political detainees during the Marcos regime.
"Sige lang mi ug expect nga naay muabot labi na karun nga (We have long been expecting that we will receive compensation especially now that) the government had confiscated part of the wealth of the Marcoses pero padayun man kini nila gi-hold (but the compensation due us is being withheld by government)," Bolcan said.
Bolcan added that they are disappointed with the government's apparent lack of interest to pursue the matter.
This, as the proposed Human Rights Compensation Act, which provides for the compensation to victims of human rights violations during the Marcos regime, has not been made a priority of the Senate.
Proposed in September of 2004 by Senator Joker Arroyo, Senate Bill No. 1745 or the Human Rights Compensation Act was last discussed by the body in February of 2007 prior to the May midterm elections. Thus, the proposal is back to square one.
Bolcan said that much to their dismay, the proponent has not shown any inclination to re-propose the matter, which is slowly causing the death of what little faith they have in the government.
