Vice President Leni Robredo (Photo from the Office of the Vice President)
MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Leni Robredo on Sunday said the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) seems to be serving the Marcos family over the best interest of the country following its decision to block the settlement deal which would give martial law victims P77,000 each.
Robredo expressed her disappointment over the decision of the OSG to block the settlement deal, calling it “detrimental” to the victims who had already been expecting the compensation.
“Even in cases before this, our Solicitor General seemed to have been lawyering for the Marcoses. It’s disappointing because he should serve the best interest of the government,” Robredo said in Filipino during “BISErbisyong LENI,” her weekly program aired over AM station DZXL.
“When the issue is between the interest of the government and the interest of the Marcoses, the latter is prioritized even if it would be detrimental to those expecting to receive the compensation,” she added.
A US court earlier released its decision to distribute $13.75 million settlement proceeds to human rights victims of martial law. The settlement will come from paintings once owned by former first lady Imelda Marcos.
The OSG blocked the deal, however, saying: “OSG found the agreement to be grossly disadvantageous to the government and not in accord with existing Philippine laws and jurisprudence.”
Robredo said that she was waiting for an explanation as to why this was considered to be disadvantageous by the government when the victims would benefit from it.
Changing narratives
According to Robredo, the decision manifested how the narrative of the history is seemingly being changed, which is disrespectful to the human rights victims during the Marcos era.
“There is no respect for those who fought before us. The reasons behind our democracy are these people who fought through abuse during the Marcos regime. They fought for our freedom and democracy. We seem to have forgotten about it.,” she said.
The Vice President also slammed “Marcos apologists” for acting deaf and blind on the issue of human rights abuses during the Marcos regime.
“Marcos apologists are acting deaf and blind,” she said. “This seems like a disrespect to those who suffered during the time of the Marcoses.” /atm