‘It’s not just about giving money to Marcos victims’

VIENTIANE, Laos—The compensation bill for victims of human rights abuses during the martial law regime is not just about money but also  acknowledges lapses in protecting Filipinos, President Benigno Aquino III told reporters after a meeting on Monday with Swiss President Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf.

Part of the compensation will come from $540 million in Swiss deposits of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, which have been transferred to the Philippine government.

Mr. Aquino told reporters in a press briefing that he assured the Swiss president he would fast-track the passage of the bill and would talk to leaders of Congress, particularly Sen. Francis Escudero, chair of the Senate justice committee.

The two leaders met on Monday on the sidelines of the 9th Asia-Europe Meeting Summit, which is ending on Wednesday.

The House of Representatives passed the bill earlier this year, but the measure has yet to gain traction in the Senate.

Under the bill, compensation for victims of martial law abuses would come from the illegally acquired assets previously deposited by the Marcoses in Swiss banks.

But legislation has to be passed before the money could be released to the martial law victims.

“This is personal not in the sense of the monetary aspect. We need to be clear in our history books that we had a period like that, when the government put up by the people was used to curtail their rights,” Mr. Aquino said.

“There must be a formality for future generations that we had an aberrant period, that there was a nightmare that happened to the Filipino nation, without a doubt, and clearly so that we can be sure that this would not happen again in the future,” he said.

But Mr. Aquino also noted that the Marcoses remained in government. There are certain quarters, he said, who would fight the bill and insist that no human rights abuses had taken place during the Marcos regime.