Marcos regime victims hail U.S. court decision

Marcos regime victims hail U.S. court decision

MANILA (UPI): Some 10,000 human rights victims who suffered under the two-decade rule of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos are hailing a United States appellate court's decision to award them nearly US$2 billion in damages.

Lawyers for the victims, collectively known as Claimants 1081 Inc., say the decision affirms Marcos' liability under international law.

Robert Swift, lead counsel for the group, also called on the Marcoses to live up to their responsibilities. Swift says, "All that remains is for the Marcoses and the Philippine government to face reality and allow the victims to collect their judgment from the Marcos' wealth."

A Hawaiian court, in three separate decisions in 1992 and 1994, awarded the victims nearly $2 billion in damages. The ruling was challenged by the Marcoses in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Los Angeles, which has re-affirmed the decision.

Thousands of activists and anti-Marcos protesters disappeared during Marcos' rule, many of whom were believed tortured and executed. The late president also allegedly looted more than $5 billion from government coffers, including some $475 million stashed in two Swiss banks.

Earlier attempts to settle claims on the loot, including that of the Philippine government, bogged down early this year.