PIMENTEL HOPEFUL THAT SENATE WILL FINALLY
PASS HUMAN RIGHTS COMPENSATION BILL

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Nene Q. Pimentel, Jr. (PDP-Laban) today said he has high hopes that the Senate, under the leadership of Senate President Manuel Villar, will put the passage of the bill granting compensation to nearly 10,000 victims of human rights violations during the martial law regime will be on top of the chambers legislative agenda.

Pimentel, who sponsored the measure on the floor, expressed this wish following the approval by the House of Representatives of its version of allocating P8 billion for the human rights victims out of the recovered Marcos bank deposits from Switzerland.

I have finished by sponsorship of the Senate version of the bill to give compensation to the victims of human rights abuses during martial law, he said.

He said that hopefully, the Upper Chamber can begin the amendments of the measure or latest next week.

The idea is to finish the bill before the next adjournment of the regular session of Congress, Pimentel remarked. It is not to anyones advantage to delay the passage of the bill.