'Marcos estate should pay $770m'

'Marcos estate should pay $770m'

HONOLULU, Hawaii (Reuter): A jury on Wednesday ordered the estate of the late Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos to pay about US$770 million in compensatory damages to 10,000 Filipino dissidents said to have suffered torture and other atrocities under his rule.

The U.S. District Court panel had ordered the estate to pay $1.2 billion in punitive damages last February.

The jury of six men and three women took three-and-a-half hours to reach Wednesday's decision, contained in 14 pages detailing different class action and individual damages.

The damages are in line with those recommended by a court- appointed judicial officer, formally called a "Special Master."