CA junks Marcos martial law victims’ petition for Hawaii class suit judgement enforcement

(Eagle News)– The Court of Appeals (CA) has rejected the petition of martial law victims under Ferdinand Marcos seeking the enforcement of a Hawaii court’s judgement granting them $2 billion in damages.

In a decision dated July 7, the CA 12th Division affirmed the Makati Regional Trial Court’s ruling dismissing petition MDL 840 filed by Priscilla Mijares, Hilda Narciso, Mariano Dimaranan, director Joel Lamangan, and former Commission on Human Rights (CHR) chairperson Loretta Ann Rosales.

The CA ruled that the Hawaii court had no jurisdiction over the case, and that  the right to due process of the unnamed claimants and of  Marcos was violated.

The CA added that the Hawaii court failed to prove that the 10 Filipino citizens who initiated MDL 840 were legally authorized by the other claimants of the case.

The Hawaii class suit was considered the first successful case filed against the late Marcos.

The judgment–which granted the petitioners $1.964 billion—was rendered on February 3, 1995.