Marcoses not off hook yet

Marcoses not off hook yet

MANILA (AFP): Philippine President Joseph Estrada said on Monday a US$150 million deal involving Ferdinand Marcos' allegedly ill-gotten wealth did not exonerate the late dictator or his family from charges of human rights abuse.

The agreement, announced last week, provides for the payment of $150 million to 9,539 victims of human rights abuse during Marcos' rule. It was reached as a settlement for a $1.9 billion judgment by a U.S. court where the victims had won a class suit in 1994.

However, several claimants have rejected the deal announced by their lawyers in Los Angeles because it contains provisions clearing the former dictator's family of any responsibility and giving it immunity from future lawsuits.

Estrada, a former pro-Marcos politician who brokered the deal, said in a statement on Monday that any "immunity" provision referred only to future lawsuits that may be filed by the nearly 10,000 rights abuse victims.