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CLAIMANTS1081 STATEMENT
08 May 2006
Rolando Abiog, Vice-Chairman
US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Decision is Victory For Marcos’ Victims of Human Rights Violations
The members of Claimants 1081 wish to express their gladness over
the recent decision of the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirming
the judgment of the Hawaii District Court to award approximately US $40
million in favor of the 9,539 victims of human rights violations under
the Marcos dictatorship. The decision is a sweet victory for the
victims who have struggled since 1986 for justice and compensation and
who, after having won a landmark decision of almost US $2 billion in a
class suit against the Marcos Estate in 1996, have nevertheless received
not a single cent.
The favorable judgment is a big boost to the cause of restorative
justice and human rights. In its unanimous decision, the Court took
notice that the class is “composed of victims of a rough and rapacious
ruler, who often exercised arbitrary power” and is “a group whose
sufferings naturally evoke sympathy.”
But this did not come easy as the victims’ lawyers have had to
initiate legal action in several countries and tirelessly search for the
well-hidden Marcos assets that can be forfeited to satisfy the court’s
award. In this particular case, the lawyers for the victims filed a
case in 2000 against Merrill Lynch, a New York-based company which was
used to invest money for a Panamanian corporation that was secretly
owned by Marcos. As in other cases involving Marcos assets outside the
country, it was the Philippine government through the Presidential
Commission on Good Government (PCGG) that presented the chief obstacle
to the victims’ efforts at recovery. As our lawyers pointed out, the
government repeatedly sought to prevent the US court from adjudicating
the case, despite lack of evidence to support its claim, forcing over
nine appeals to the US Court of Appeals, and even sought to remove
distinguished US jurist Manuel Real from hearing the case.
The Ninth Circuit Court hit the nail on the head when it pointed
out that “…the Republic had not taken steps to compensate these persons
who suffered outrage from the extra-legal acts of a man who was the
president of the Republic.” Now the PCGG is sneakily trying to forge a
compromise agreement with the Imelda Marcos, notwithstanding legal
impediments and with disregard to Marcos’ accountabilities.
We hope that the process of distribution of the money for the
compensation of the victims can be started soon. This “tangible
recovery of symbolic significance”, as the Court put it, can go a long
way in helping the victims and their heirs in rebuilding their lives,
healing the wounds and pursuing their dream for a just and better
tomorrow. We have full trust in the integrity and fairness of the
processes of the US court. It is indeed ironic that the victims cannot
find redress from their own government and had no other recourse but to
seek justice from a foreign court.
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