HUMAN RIGHTS | DOJ, CHR pushes for referral system to compensate rights violations victims

March 14, 2024 , 05:53 PM

By Clarist Zablan

(March 14, 2024) – The Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) on Thursday agreed to create a referral system to allow victims of rights violations to secure monetary compensation from the government more easily.

The DOJ, CHR, and the department’s Board of Claims signed a memorandum of agreement aimed at simplifying and hastening the receipt, processing, and evaluation of applications for financial compensation with the board.

“The primary purpose of this MOA is the institution of a referral system for victims of human rights violations such as EJKs (extrajudicial killings), torture, enforced disappearances, human trafficking, and victims of sexual exploitation,” Board of Claims chair Miguel Gudio, Jr. said.

Justice Undersecretary Deo Marco said the monetary compensation to victims of human rights violations “represents hope for which justice has been denied, delayed, inaccessible.”

“The very creation of the VCP (Victim Compensation Program) recognizes that there are imperfections in our legal justice system, and gives people a mode of directly seeking this recognition by way of compensation,” Marco said.

Created by law in 1992, the Board of Claims is mandated to provide compensation to victims of unjust imprisonment and detention amounting P1,000 for every month that they were wrongfully deprived of liberty.

For other violent crimes, the board is mandated to approve claims of up to P10,000, or the amount necessary to reimburse their costs of treatment and income loss, whichever is lower.

The department said filmmaker Jade Castro could apply for compensation with the Board of Claims, after he was arrested without a warrant for 40 days in Quezon province on accusations of setting a modern jeepney on fire. A local court released him and his three companions, finding their arrest invalid.

Castro’s lead counsel, Mike Marpuri, welcomed the MOA signing between the DOJ and the CHR but they will look into the agreement first before applying for claims.

“If my clients, Direk Jade and his friends, fall under the criteria provided for the MOA, then we will definitely explore that remedy. But I would still need to check the language of the MOA before my clients can make any decision,” Marpuri said.

Since its creation and until 2023, the Board of Claims have approved 52,000 claims amounting to a total of P514.9 million, the justice department said.

There have been measures filed in both houses of Congress to raise the compensation given by the Board of Claims by five times to account for inflation over the past three decades.

(MM | With reports from Justinne Punsalang, News5)

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