FIRST LADY TO REPRESENT ERAP IN RP MARTYR'S

BEATIFICATION RITES
Malacanang, March 4, 2000 - A young Filipino who was martyred in the 17th
century will move one step closer to sainthood on Sunday with his beatification in
Rome.

First Lady Dr. Luisa "Loi" Ejercito Estrada is expected to represent President Joseph
"Erap" Ejercito Estrada on that date to attend the beatification ceremony in Rome of
Filipino martyr Pedro Calungsod.

beatified at St. Peter’s Square, bringing him closer to becoming the Philippines’
second saint.

Calungsod died for the Catholic faith on April 2, 1672 as a lay catechist who
accompanied Jesuit missionary Diego Luis de San Vitores to the Marianas Islands.
He was slain while defending Father San Vitores from two assailants.

Philippine officials in the Vatican are working for the beatification of Calungsod and
Mother Ignacia del Espiritu Santo, who founded a religious order in the Philippines
in 1684.

The Philippines has one saint, Lorenzo Ruiz, who was martyred in Japan. Pope John
Paul II beatified Ruiz in 1981 and canonized him in 1987.

Reported by: Sol Jose Vanzi

© Copyright, 2000 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE

All rights reserved

MARCOSES GET 7-WEEK EXTENSION TO PAY VICTIMS

 $150-M
Manila, March 4, 2000 - A US district court judge in Hawaii has given the Marcos family
seven more weeks to settle the $150-million compromise deal as payment for 10,000
human rights victims of the martial law regime.

In a hearing in Honolulu yesterday, Judge Manuel Real rejected a petition to terminate a

$150-million settlement between the family of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos and
victims of human rights abuses during his rule, and set another hearing on April 24.

Atty. Rod Domingo, and US lawyer Robert Swift had asked Real during a hearing in Honolulu
on Thursday to terminate the deal, after the Sandiganbayan nullified the agreement for
being "unconstitutional."

Nullification of the deal by the US court would allow the victims to demand payment of the
entire $2 billion awarded to them by Real in 1994 when they won a class action suit filed
against the Marcos estate.

The $150-million settlement money was to have been deducted from $630 Marcos Swiss
bank accounts which are now in a Philippine National Bank escrow account pending
resolution of its ownership.

"The situation now is we have to wait until April 24 ... This will effectively give the Marcoses
ample time to effect the payment of the 150 million dollars to the victims," Domingo said.

“We are now in the process of looking for other assets of the Marcos estate to answer for
the obligation because we feel that if by the time of the next scheduled hearing no payment
will be made by the Marcoses, then we will really attach all known properties of the estate,”
Domingo said in a television interview. "We will move for their arrest or detention in the US
courts and coordinate with the Philippine government in locating other assets of the
Marcoses."

Party-list Rep. Loretta Ann Rosales, a member of the claimants’ group, urged the
Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) to file a motion for reconsideration
before the Supreme Court to reverse the Sandiganbayan's ruling.

"I was initially disappointed. But on second thought, I tried to look at the wisdom of the US
court and I think Judge Real merely wanted the two parties to look for alternative sources of
money to enable the Marcoses to pay the victims," she said.

Domingo admitted that his group faces an uphill battle in trying to collect from the
Marcoses.

“The Marcoses are indeed tough. They will do every trick in the book to withhold payment of
the money. So we will just use whatever legal remedies (there are) to be able to satisfy the
judgment," he said.

Meanwhile, another group of human rights victims were extremely dissatisfied with Real's
decision.
"We are so disgusted, dismayed and angry at the way Judge Real treated us," said Marie
Hilao-Enriquez, secretary general of the Samahan ng mga Ex-Detainee Laban sa Detensyon
at Para sa Amnestiya (SELDA).

SELDA wants the $150-million deal terminated because "any settlement by any means, if
penned by the cunning duo of Imelda Marcos and the Estrada government ... will just be a
legal document of grave insult to the human rights victims and the historic struggle of
Filipinos against the Marcos dictatorship and fascism."

SELDA stressed that the Marcos family had constantly held on to their innocence and would
never let go of a single centavo without a legal declaration of their exoneration.

"Any agreement with the Marcoses without proper consultation and primary consideration of
the victims' interest is downright immoral and complete treachery of the rights and interests
of 9,539 human rights victims," SELDA said.

Reported by: Sol Jose Vanzi

© Copyright, 2000 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE

All rights reserved

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