Makati judge stops awarding of $2.26 B in damages to martial law victims

Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Sunday lauded the decision of a Makati Regional Trial Court trashing the petition to enforce the 18-year-old judgment of the United States District Court in Hawaii that awarded compensatory and exemplary damages to human rights victims during martial law.

In a statement issue on Sunday, the son and namesake of the former dictator said that their family felt vindicated by the decision.

“We feel vindicated because the judge (Pascua) recognized the arguments that we have been making for many years now,” Marcos said, referring to the 11-page decision dated June 25, 2013 penned by Judge Bonifacio S. Pascua of National Capital Judicial Region, Branch 56 of Makati City, dismissing the petition thus: “The final judgment in the case MDL No. 840 against the estate of the late Ferdinand R. Marcos et. al. is not conclusive yet, but presumptive evidence of a right of the petitioners against the Marcos estate.”

Marcos said the petition stemmed from a verdict on February 3, 1995 by the US District Court awarding plaintiffs Priscila C Mijares et. al. $2,260,000,000 as compensatory and exemplary damages after they won in the Class Action MDL 840. On May 21, 1997, the plaintiffs filed a petition for enforcement of the foreign judgment here in the Philippines.

“In his decision, Pascua said the plaintiffs have not presented any new evidence and that they anchored their cause of action in Hawaii upon the Torture of Victims Protection Act (TVPA), which was signed by President George H. W. Bush on March 12, 1992,” Marcos said in the statement.

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Short Video: Marcos legacy still haunts Philippine human rights victims

Former First Gentleman Charged of Corruption

Graft charges were filed Thursday against former First Gentleman Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo, former Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Ronaldo Puno, and former Philippine National Police Chief Director General Jesus Versoza before the Office of the Ombudsman in connection with the purchase by the PNP of two used choppers in 2009.

Also charged were 16 PNP officers.

In the complaint filed by three senators, Arroyo and his co-respondents were accused of conspiring with each other in defrauding the government of P62.67 million through the purchase of two used helicopters passed off as brand-new.

“Jose Miguel Arroyo conspired with the private individuals and officers of the PNP and this conspiracy violates the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and the Government Procurement Act,’’ the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee stated in its findings, the basis of the complaint.

“It is quite clear that these helicopters were used extensively by the Arroyos during the 2004 elections. From the time these were imported into the Philippines until the time that these were sold to the PNP, the Arroyos used them repeatedly, extensively, and fully. Walang kaduda-duda (No doubt),” Senate Blue Ribbon Committee Chairman Teofisto L. Guingona III said.

“It is clear that Mike Arroyo, as the true owner of the helicopters, took advantage of the PNP and robbed the Filipino people of 62 million pesos for used helicopters,” Guingona added.

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