Martial Law Victims Insulted by Exclusion from List of Compensation Claimants

‘Big Insult’

Barsoles said he could not believe that his name was deleted. “We were the original complainants,” he said.

Barsoles was arrested sometime in 1974 in Jaro, Iloilo. He was subjected to solitary confinement for one month. “I got cigarette burns. My captors pulled my moustache until I bled. They also pointed a 45-calibre gun to my temple and pulled the trigger,” Barsoles recounted.

Like Barsoles, sisters Ninin Biron-Gozum and Trinie Ann Biron, went to the CHR that day. Their father, Aurelio Biron Jr. who died in 2001, was also detained during martial law. Their father’s name is not on the list.

“We are not after the monetary compensation. It is a big insult to us that our father’s name was deleted in the list of those who fought the Marcos dictatorship,” Ninin told Bulatlat.com. “Of course we are very emotional about this. We want them to retain our father’s name,” she added.

The same goes true for Felicitas Amesola, 65, who travelled all the way from Iligan City to go to the CHR. Amesola’s husband Aurelio was killed on June 4, 1986 by elements of the Citizens Home Defense Force in Digkilaan, Iligan City. Felicitas joined the class suit in 1993 and submitted all the requirements.

Like Barsoles and the Biron sisters, Felicitas did not receive a letter from Swift regarding the compensation.

(Top photo) Jose “Bong” Barsoles (left) inquires about his exclusion from the list of martial-law victims who will get compensation. (Below) Sisters Ninin and Trinie Ann Biron are disappointed to find out that their father, Aurelio, is not included in the list. (Photos by Ronalyn V. Olea / bulatlat.com)

“For 25 years, I have been going through these papers again and again,” Felicitas said, showing the documents she sent to the Hawaii court and the letters she received from the said court from 1993 until 2006. “They are fooling us,” she said.

Like Amesola, Rogelio Rita, 60, and Elias Gache, 75, traveled all the way from Sorsogon, Bicol to get compensation. They were told to go to CHR office in Legazpi for their claims.

“We have shown them all our documents. Why did they not release our claims?” Gache said, adding that they only borrowed money to get to Manila.

Other martial-law victims Romulo Ocampo, 60, Carlos Bolito, 60, Nelito Lontok, 72, also went to the CHR and were disappointed to find out that their names were not included in the list.

Ocampo was detained for 14 years. “They squeezed my testicles,” he said.

(Top photo) Felicitas Amesola, who travelled all the way from Iligan City, shows all her documents to prove that she is eligible for claims. (Below) Ambai Haji Mohammad, whose four family members were killed and disappeared during martial law, hopes to receive compensation. (Photos by Ronalyn V. Olea / bulatlat.com)

Bolito said his fingers were burned with cigarettes. “My head was repeatedly banged on the walls. They played loud music in my ears. I was beaten repeatedly I could not walk for six months,” Bolito recounted.

“Are they telling us that we are not genuine victims? Where is justice for us?” Bolito decried.

“Should we wait for another 25 years? We would be dead by then,” Lontok said.

Veronico Antes who was detained four times during martial law said: “We are treated like garbage here. They do not even recognize us as victims.”

Antes confronted Swift and said: “Are you saying that the more than 7,000 are the real victims and we are not? That is not fair.”

Swift replied that there are in fact more than 10,000 victims of martial law but not all are eligible for compensation.

Selda’s Cabillas said Swift has exposed himself as someone who is not after the welfare of all the victims of martial law.

For her part, Ambai Haji Mohammad, 56, whose family members were killed and disappeared during martial law, said the fight is not yet over. Her father Maitum Guiampaca, sister Bai Puti, brother-in-law Sally and nephew Mamot were victims of bombings by the 15th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army on Sept. 4, 1974, in Sultan Kudarat. Only one of the four victims is included in the list.

“I would not stop fighting until justice is served for all victims,” Mohammad said.