Actual victims of Ferdinand Marcos’ human rights violations during martial law, including those like us who were dubiously stricken from the list of 9,200 victims, are further disgusted with the new irregularities that attended the distribution of the supposed $10-million compensation (at $1,000 per victim).
The exposure of a scam that has been going on (with impostors using fake IDs to collect still unclaimed compensation) and the arrest of some perpetrators revealed that some highly knowledgeable people, who have access to the list of victims and know who already have and who have not yet collected compensation, are using their knowledge to carry out the scam.
The masterminds behind the scam are taking advantage of the information that at least 500 listed victims have not yet claimed compensation, hoping to run away with at least $500,000 through this scam.
—ALAN JAZMINES and EDUARDO SARMIENTO
(delisted Marcos martial law human rights victims now detained at the PNP Custodial Center, Camp Crame, Quezon City), alan_jazmines@yahoo.com