Republic Act No. 10368 (Human Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition Act of 2013)

Also known as: HR Victims Reparation Act · RA 10368 · Marcos Victims Compensation Act (colloquial)

Definition

Republic Act No. 10368, the Human Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition Act of 2013, is a Philippine law that recognizes and provides reparation, both monetary and non-monetary, to victims of human rights violations committed during the regime of President Ferdinand Marcos from 21 September 1972 to 28 February 1986. Enacted on 25 February 2013, the law created the Human Rights Victims’ Claims Board to adjudicate claims and funded compensation partly from the Marcos family’s ill-gotten wealth forfeited to the State. (LawPhil, Wikipedia)

Identities (Wikipedia/Wikidata/DBpedia)

Wikipedia: Martial law under Ferdinand Marcos (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martial_law_under_Ferdinand_Marcos)
Wikidata: Q60740956
DBpedia: N/A

Also Known As

HR Victims Reparation Act
RA 10368
Marcos Victims Compensation Act (colloquial)

Examples and Analogies

Claim example: A survivor of arbitrary detention during martial law files a claim with the Claims Board, presenting documentation and witness testimony to establish the violation and its severity.
Analogy: The law operates like a national truth-and-reparation mechanism, pairing financial compensation with a formal public acknowledgment that the violations happened.

Usage Scenarios

1. Filing a reparation claim

Victims or their legal heirs submitted applications to the Human Rights Victims’ Claims Board within the filing window, with points awarded according to the gravity of the suffered violation.

2. Non-monetary recognition

Claimants found entitled receive a public registry acknowledgment, and their narratives contribute to the historical record taught in museums and memorials.

Strategies

Point-based evaluation differentiated among enforced disappearance, torture, and other grave violations so compensation matched severity.
Publishing the registry of recognized victims institutionalizes memorialization beyond the life of the Claims Board.

Security and Safety Measures

Documentation requirements and sworn testimony guarded against fraudulent claims on the limited compensation fund.
The law’s historical record function supports education against the repetition of authoritarian abuse.

Historical Context

The law followed the 1986 People Power Revolution and decades of litigation over the Marcoses’ hidden wealth, including Swiss deposits forfeited to the Philippine government. On the 27th anniversary of the 1986 uprising, President Benigno S. Aquino III signed RA 10368, allocating ten billion pesos from recovered ill-gotten wealth for the compensation fund. (LawPhil)

Challenges and Controversies

Fund sufficiency

Tens of thousands of approved claims meant many victims received only partial payment of their awarded amounts.

Historical denialism

Ongoing political disputes over how martial law is remembered keep the law’s findings at the center of public debate.