16,000 rights victims urged to file claims: Deadline is Nov. 10

A PAGE FROM MARTIAL LAW HISTORY. The dictatorship was practically on its last legs when the usual suspects in the Marcos opposition led yet another protest march on Oct. 7, 1984. In a little over a year, People Power on Edsa would stun the world. From right: Etta Rosales, Lily de las Alas-Padilla, Cory Aquino, Wigberto Tañada, Lorenzo Tañada, Ramon Pedrosa, Ambrosio Padilla and—can you please name these two unidentified braves at the extreme left. They marched from Santo Domingo Church on Quezon Blvd Extension in Quezon City to Welcome Rotonda, on the boundary with Manila, where a reception party of riot cops dispersed them. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Tell your stories and claim your rights, an official of the Human Rights Victims Claims Board (HRVCB) on Friday urged victims of martial law, as the Nov. 10 deadline for the filing of claims approaches.

“We should tell our stories and the struggle against the dictatorship,” HRVCB member Dr. Aurora Parong said. “We hope all the victims would file their claims so we can show what happened to (them), she added.

Of the 20,000 martial law victims expected to file for claims before the human rights board, only 4,000 have applied so far.

Victims should come forward not just for reparation, but to acknowledge their status as victims and heroes of that dark period, Parong said at the launch of the virtual “Museum of Courage and Resistance” organized by the Task Force Detainees of the Philippines.

Online museum

The online museum, a collection of photos and exhibits on martial law, can be accessed at https://tfdpmuseum.blogspot.com

Parong said the claims board has received only 4,000 applications so far during its caravans and at its main office in the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City.

Claimants have until Nov. 10 to file their applications, which will be evaluated and verified by the board until the end of 2015, she added.

More claimants welcome

Around P10 billion has been set aside for the monetary claims of martial law victims whose number approximate 20,000, although Parong said the board was “not setting the limit at 20,000 or 30,000.”

“We will welcome more claimants out there,” she said, adding that Filipinos have important lessons to learn from martial law, particularly on human rights.

“Human rights (are) very important. You should know your rights and assert them. Don’t be silent if they are violated. You should also help others,” Parong said.

Most of the claimants started filing their application on May 12 with the HRVCB caravan in Angeles City, Tacloban, Calbayog, Cebu, Iloilo, Bacolod and Cotabato cities.

The claims board caravan receives as many as 200 applicants a day, while the UP office gets from 50 to 150 applications a day.

Undocumented claimants

Parong said claimants whose cases had not been documented can opt to get affidavits from two knowledgable persons who can testify on their case.

She also warned that fictitious claimants would be meted out an eight to 10-year imprisonment.

The official lamented that some fixers have been making the rounds of communities, claiming to help applicants for a fee ranging from P600 to P1,500.

Laws vs fixers

“The application process is absolutely free of charge,” Parong said. “There are laws in place against fixers,” she added.

Aside from financial renumeration, the claims board is also considering nonmonetary assistance to martial law victims through PhilHealh coverage, livelihood training and scholarships for heirs, among others.

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