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Philippines rights victims to receive compensation
Updated 26 February 2013, 7:59 AEST
Philippines President Benigno Aquino has passed landmark legislation to compensate victims of human rights abuses under late former president Ferdinand Marcos.
The Human Rights Reparation Law will give financial compensation to at least 10,000 people, who claim to have suffered from abuses under the Marcos regime.
Marie Hilao-Enriquez, chairperson of Society of Ex-Detainees Against Detention and Arrest (SELDA) has told Radio Australia's Asia Pacific the move to compensate victims represents a "correction of history".
"I think more than the monetary compensation, the one important thing for us is the recognition that there have been people who fought during those dark years of martial law," she said"
The money will come from a fund worth US $250 million, made up of assets the government confiscated from Ferdinand Marcos.
The law was signed on the 27th anniversary of the bloodless revolt, which ended Ferdinand Marcos' 20-year rule.
Human rights victims and their families have welcomed the law, saying it is long overdue.
The son of the late president, Ferdinand Junior, has shrugged off the law, saying the government has confiscated his family's assets and the issue of compensation is now between the victims and the government.
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