ADDENDUM (2011-2023)

Chronology of Events Related to the Human Rights Class Action Suit Against
Marcos
ADDENDUM (2011-2023)
Chronology of Events Related to the Human Rights Class Action Suit Against Marcos (1985 – 2013)

Editor: Josephine Dongail

Researcher: Jonas Juguilon Estrada
Reviewers: Roneo Clamor, Christina Palabay, Tita Lubi, Rachel Pastores

We wish to acknowledge and thank all those who have helped in making this publication possible.

Published in the Philippines in 2023 by SELDA

2/F Erythrina Bldg., 1 Maaralin St., Central District, Quezon City 1100, Philippines

Printed and bound in the Philippines by Ibon Books 114 Timog Avenue, Quezon City 1103, Philippines

The reproduction and distribution of information contained in this publication are allowed as long as the source is cited.
 ADDENDUM (2011-2023)
to the
Chronology of Events Related to the Human Rights Class Action Suit Against Marcos (1985-2013)
(LOGO)
The Samahan ng Ex-Detainees Laban sa Detensyon at Aresto (SELDA) is an organisation of former political prisoners in
the Philippines. Founded in early 1985, SELDA was initiated by newly-released political prisoners of the martial law
period.

SELDA organises former political prisoners and ensures that they are kept abreast of the economic and political situation
in the country and continue to work for social change.

SELDA’s primary task is to work for the release of all political prisoners and to see to it that humane treatment of those
who are still in detention are complied with by the Philippine government. SELDA advocates justice for current and
former political prisoners. It calls for the mobilisation of resources in support of political prisoners, former detainees and
their families. It carries out legislative advocacy for the indemnification and rehabilitation of political prisoners. SELDA
goes into partnership and builds solidarity with concerned individuals and groups for the freedom and welfare of political
prisoners and all victims of tyranny.

The current members of the National Board (as elected in the 2017 National Assembly) are:

Chairperson Trinidad Herrera-Repuno

First Vice-Chairperson Danilo dela Fuente
Vice-Chairperson Visayas Cynthia Deduro
Vice-Chairperson Luzon Donato Navia
Vice-Chairperson Mindanao Fe Carreon-Salino
Treasurer Josephine Dongail
Auditor Rosemarie Maiso (RIP 2023)
Members-at-large Amaryllis Hilao-Enriquez (RIP 2022)
Emeterio Antalan
Ramon Argente
Jimmylisa Badayos
Sandino Esguerra
Artemio Hubilla
Leo Magno (RIP 2023)
Lenville Salvador

Secretary General Rosalia Rebolltar-Bacarra

Deputy Secretary-General Darlene Yohanon
National Secretariat (2023) Roneo Clamor
Marilyn Miraña
Darren Navia
 FOREWORD

The documentation of the events surrounding the human rights class suit against Marcos was recorded in
SELDA’s publication, “Chronology of Events Related to the Human Rights Class Action Suit Against Marcos
(1985 – 2013)”.

Invoking the Aliens Tort Act of the US, SELDA filed the class action suit against Marcos in the Federal District
Court of Pennsylvania, which was then remanded by the US Federal Court to the Federal District Court of
Honolulu in Hawaii. On September 22, 1992, the US Federal Court issued its judgment in favor of the Marcos
victims. The decision found Marcos guilty of gross human rights violations and the Estate of Marcos liable to
pay damages to the victims.

Meanwhile, this 2023 Addendum follows the events from 2013 when the Philippine president Benigno Aquino
III approved and signed Republic Act 10368 known as the Human Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition
Act of 2013, entitled “An Act Providing for Reparation and Recognition of Victims of Human Rights Violations
during the Marcos Regime, Documentation of Said Violations, Appropriating Funds Therefor, and for Other
Purposes” during the 27th EDSA People Power anniversary programme.

In June 2022, the son of Ferdinand Marcos, Sr. became the president of the Republic of the Philippines.

The documentation of this Addendum ends in August 2023 with the note that the pursuit for justice still
continues.

(This ADDENDUM/POST SCRIPT was written in July-August 2023.)

ADDENDUM to the “Chronology of Events Related to the Human Rights Class Action Suit Against
Marcos (1985 – 2013)”

...continued from the documented events of 2013

2011-2019

US Court events on the Hawai’i class suit after 2011

For a brief background, on May 23, 1995, there was an order granting the plaintiff’s (i.e., human rights
violations victims) motion for contempt against the Marcoses for not complying with the original decision on
compensating the human rights violations victims. A sanction was entered [of $100,000.00 per day] for
violation of the US Federal Court's preliminary and permanent injunction which was part of the Judgment
Order of February 3, 1995.

On January 25, 2011, the Judgement on Contempt against the Marcoses was adjudicated. By 2011, the daily
fine of US$ 100,000 from the US Federal Court Judgment Order had already totaled to US$ 353,600,000.

On October 24, 2012, the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the Judgment on Contempt and the
compensatory nature of the case.

On July 23, 2019, Plaintiff Class of Human Rights Violations Victims filed a Motion for the Extension of
Judgment on Contempt.

On August 30, 2019, Derrick K. Watson, the new circuit judge of the District Court of Hawaii made the
judgment that the expiration of the Judgment on Contempt, Dkt. No. 10665, dated January 25, 2011, is
EXTENDED until January 25, 2031, pursuant to Hawai'i Revised Statutes Section 657-5.

This meant that the Marcos family would still be liable to pay the sanction/fine within the next nine (9) years.

2013-2023

The Philippine Republic Act 10368

The Human Rights Reparation and Recognition Act of 2013 was operationalised with a Human Rights
Violations Claims Board (HRVCB) in 2014 to oversee the review, processing, and approval of claimants. The
Board assessed 75,730 claims of human rights violations committed from Sept. 21 1972 to Feb. 25, 1986 as
provided for under the RA 10368 with the stated provision that the law would cease to be in effect on a specific
date. The Board en banc later sought, and was eventually granted two years extension through RA 10766 to
ensure all claims would be processed. The Board was given a budget of PhP 10 billion taken from the Swiss
account of the Marcoses. Of the PhP 10-billion budget, PhP 9.75 billion was allotted for the claimants, while
the board was authorized to get PhP 50 million annual budget for its operations.

There was a total of 75,730 applications, but only 11,103 applications were considered by the Claims Board as
qualified to receive cash reparations. The distribution of the indemnification claims started in 2018 and ended
in 2019. There were no actual figures reported whether the PhP 9.75 billion was totally expended or disbursed.

There was also a report that around PhP 700 million remained unclaimed. SELDA coordinated with several
government officials to ask for their intercession regarding this problem of the unclaimed funds. This led to the
passing of the August 2018 Senate Resolution (sponsored by Senators Francis Escudero, Ralph Recto, and
Leila de Lima) that extended the deadline to December 2019 the release of unclaimed reparations that were part
of the 11,103 claims.

Meanwhile, SELDA had followed up on the provisions concerning the non-monetary reparations of Republic
Act 10368:

 regarding the obligation for non-monetary reparations for victims’ needs from Philippine
government agencies, i.e., Departments of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Health
(DOH), and Education (DEC); Commission on Higher Education (CHED), and the Technical
Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA). According to the defunct Claims Board,
there were Memoranda of Agreement signed with these government agencies in 2018 on the non-
monetary reparation that they should put into effect in compliance with the law. SELDA was then
furnished copies of all these Memoranda of Agreement signed by these government agencies with
the HRVCB.

In 2023, SELDA coordinated with DSWD and the agency then extended some financial and
medical assistance to a limited number of martial law victims whose houses in Metro-Manila’s
urban poor communities were up for demolition.

 regarding the construction of the martial law victims Memorial/Museum to be implemented by the
Human Rights Violations Victims Memorial Commission. According to the Executive Director of
the Commission, Camelo Crisanto, the museum would be constructed somewhere in the UP-
Diliman campus.

In a meeting with SELDA, the present Chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), Richard
Palpalatoc, committed to discuss the compliance and implementation of these two provisions with the Human
Rights Violations Victims Memorial Commission (HRVVMC).

The Chair of the CHR is de facto the Chair of the HRVVMC. The other members of this Memorial
Commission are the heads of the following institutions: a) the Commission on Higher Education and
Development, b) the National Commission on Culture and the Arts, c) the Main Library of the University of the
Philippines-Diliman, and d) the Cabinet Secretary of the Department of Education.

CHR Chair Gascon to Atty. Robert Swift

In 2019, then Chair of the Philippine Commission on Human Rights, Jose Luis Martin Gascon, wrote Atty.
Robert Swift requesting him to reconsider his decision delisting some 2,013 human rights victims from the
original list of 9,539 victims approved by the Hawaii Court in 1992. Atty. Swift never responded to Gascon’s
letter.

Crafting a new human rights victims’ recognition and reparations law

For background purposes it must be mentioned here that in 2016, SELDA had coordinated with Party Lists
Bayan Muna and Kabataan regarding the proposal to draft a reparations law – this was the forerunner of RA
10368.

In 2019, SELDA and the Makabayan bloc in the Philippine Congress initiated the drafting of a new law that
would focus more on the continuance of the indemnification rights of the human rights violations victims
whose applications were not approved by the defunct Human Rights Violations Claims Board. House bill 3505
was then filed on August 11, 2022 entitled, New Human Rights Victims’ Recognition and Reparations Act of
2022.
The return of the Marcoses
On June 2022, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. was elected President of the Philippines.

In the first year of Marcos Jr.’s governance, the Sandiganbayan1 promulgated rulings on a number of ill-gotten
wealth cases against the Marcos family:

 On July 22, 2022, the Sandiganbayan’s Fourth Division denied the motion for reconsideration filed
by the PCGG to reverse its December 16, 2019 ruling that dismissed the state’s lawsuit seeking to
recover PhP 200 billion worth of Marcos family assets and properties. The Sandiganbayan stated
that a sweeping dismissal of the entire complaint “is not warranted” since many of the subject
properties had long been recovered by the government.

 On February 21, 2023, the Sandiganbayan’s Fifth Division dismissed Civil Case 0024, one of the
ill-gotten cases against the late Ferdinand Marcos, Sr., Imelda Romualdez Marcos, and a number of
their cronies. The case was dismissed due to the prosecutor’s failure to present sufficient evidence.

 On June 27, 2023, the Sandiganbayan’s Second Division dismissed another ill-gotten wealth case
filed in 1987 involving Ferdinand Marcos, Sr., Imelda Marcos, and their business associates. In its
45-page decision, the Sandiganbayan said that the prosecution failed to prove that the late president
and his wife conspired with their cronies to acquire ill-gotten wealth; in particular, the plaintiff
failed to establish that the subject properties were ill-gotten in the first place.

 On July 19, 2023, the Philippine Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the Sandiganbayan junking
a PhP 1.052 billion civil forfeiture case against the Marcos family and their alleged associates due to
lack of evidence.

Sometime on September 2022, SELDA and its lawyers, in the name of the Hawaii Class Suit victims and
named plaintiffs, wrote Atty. Robert Swift to see to it that when Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. arrived in the US for his
visit to the UN General Assembly, Marcos Jr. should be compelled to account for and comply to the ruling
regarding the sanctions/fine imposed on the Marcos family by the US Court in 1995. Atty Swift responded that
the US Court had deferred to the immunity given Marcos Jr. as a foreign government dignitary.

Meanwhile, the pursuit for justice continues.

1
As explained in the Philippine constitution, the Sandiganbayan is a special “appellate collegial court that has jurisdiction over criminal and civil cases
involding graft and corrupt practices and other offenses committed by public officers and employees, including those in government-owned and
controlled corporations”. It is an anti-graft court of sorts. https://sb.judiciary.gov.ph
REFERENCES
(of the ADDENDUM)

From the Sandiganbayan ( https://sb.judiciary.gov.ph )

Civil Case No. 2

July 22, 2022 Dismissal ruling
January 25, 2023 Sandiganbayan ruling re denying motion for writ of execution of properties
May 4. 2023 Sandiganbayan denies motion for reconsideration

Civil Case No. 4

February 23. 2023 Sandiganbayan ruling
Junks one of ill-gotten wealth cases vs Marcos, others

Civil Case No. 14

June 27, 2023 Sandiganbayan ruling
Marcoses, alleged cronies dodge legal bullet anew as Sandiganbayan junks another civil case

Civil Case No. 24

February 21, 2023 Sandiganbayan ruling
Sandiganbayan junks one of ill-gotten wealth cases vs Marcos, others

From the Supreme Court:

Civil Case No. 8
January 7, 2023 SC ruling published on July 17, 2023
SC affirms dismissal of P1.05 billion Marcos ill-gotten wealth case
BACK COVER

LOGO

SELDA (Samahan ng Ex-Detainees Laban sa Detensyon at Aresto)

2/F Erythrina Bldg., 1 Maaralin St., Central District,
Quezon City 1101, Philippines

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