Santiago seeks to ease agony of families of missing persons

Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago. RYAN LEAGOGO/INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO

Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago wants to ease the agony of families of those who go missing during natural calamities by cutting to two years the waiting time for them to collect death benefits.

In Senate Bill 2703, Santiago seeks to amend Article 391 of the Civil Code, which provides for “exceptional circumstances when a person shall be presumed dead for all purposes.”

Under the law, the following should be presumed dead: a person who has been declared missing for four years after being involved in a sea vessel or an airplane mishap; a person in the armed forces who has taken part in war, and has been missing for four years; and a person who has been in danger of death under other circumstances and his existence has not been known for four years.

The senator noted that the law did not specifically include those missing due to natural disasters but these could be covered by Article 391.

In explaining her bill, Santiago said the 2012 World Disaster Report ranked the Philippines as the third most disaster-prone country in the world because of its high exposure to natural calamities.

“In 2011, typhoon “Sendong” left around 1,257 dead, 6,071 injured, and 182 missing across 13 provinces. In 2012, typhoon “Pablo” hit Mindanao that caused similar deaths and damage as “Sendong.” Typhoon “Pablo” took the lives of 1,067 people and injured 2,666 others in 34 provinces, and 834 people went missing. In 2013, super typhoon “Yolanda” killed at least 6,201 people, left more than 28,000 injured, with 1,785 others missing, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council,” she said.

“Although a person missing due to natural disasters or calamities may fall under Article 391 … four years is still a long time. The waiting period unnecessarily aggravates the grief of the relatives of the missing victims and it also prolongs their agony,” she said.

“These typhoons and other natural disasters have left thousands of families of the missing victims waiting for several years just to receive death benefits,” the senator added.

Thus, Santiago proposed to reduce the waiting period to two years so that persons missing due to natural disasters or calamities like typhoon, volcanic eruption, tsunami, storm surge, earthquake, tornado, landslide, and flood could already be presumed dead.

Once the missing is presumed dead, his surviving family members may start processing the collection of death benefits due them.