One of the fundamental constitutional rights is that “no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, nor shall any person be denied the equal protection of the laws” (Section 1, Article III, 1987 Constitution). However, a challenging issue in the realm of justice and human rights is the protection of the aforementioned constitutional right.

Individuals have been wrongly accused and incarcerated for crimes they did not commit, only to be acquitted later on. Both the government and society have shown a troubling indifference towards victims of crimes and offenders alike. Worse, the judicial process for submitting a compensation claim can be quite lengthy.

In 1992, a law was passed to create the Board of Claims to administer the procedure of filing compensation claims. RA No. 7309 is the law creating the Board of Claims under the Department of Justice, which administers compensation for victims of unjust imprisonment or detention and victims of violent crimes.

Under RA 7309 those qualified to claim compensation include:

1. A person who was unjustly accused, convicted and imprisoned and subsequently released by virtue of a judgment of acquittal;

2. A person who was unjustly detained and released without being charged;

3. A person who is a victim of arbitrary detention by the authorities as defined in the Revised Penal Code under a final judgment of the court; or

4. A person who is a victim of a violent crime which includes rape and offenses committed with malice which resulted in death or serious physical and/or psychological injuries, permanent incapacity or disability, insanity, abortion, serious trauma, or committed with torture, cruelty or barbarity.

The law provides that in case of death or incapacity of any person entitled to any award under this Act, the claim may be filed by his heirs, in the following order: by his surviving spouse, children, natural parents, brother and/or sister.

The claim should be filed with the Board by the person entitled to compensation under this Act within six months after being released from imprisonment or detention or from the date he suffered damage or injury; otherwise, he is deemed to have waived his claim.

RA 7309, however, provides that no waiver of claim shall be valid, unless provided otherwise under the said law.

1. For the victims of unjust imprisonment, the compensation shall be based on the number of months of imprisonment and every fraction thereof shall be considered one month, but in no case shall such compensation exceed P1,000 per month.

2. In all other cases, the maximum for which the Board may approved a claim shall not exceed P10,000 or the amount necessary to reimburse the claimant the expenses incurred for hospitalization, medical treatment, loss of wage, loss of support or other expenses directly related to the injury, whichever is lower to be determined by the Board, without prejudice to the right of the claimant to seek other remedies under existing laws.

Proposed amendments to RA 3709:

Currently, Senate Bill 1842 is pending, which aims to amend RA 7309 and increase the compensation for victims of wrongful conviction, arbitrary detention, violent crimes, and human rights violations.

Under the proposed legislation, the amount for unjust imprisonment will be increased to P5,000 per month but not exceeding P300,000. Meanwhile, for all other cases, the P10,000 financial assistance will be increased to P50,000 or the amount necessary to reimburse the claimant the expenses incurred for hospitalization, medical treatment, loss of wage, loss of support or other expenses directly related to injury, whichever is higher “without prejudice to the right of the claimant to seek other remedies under existing laws.”

Senate Bill 2547 is also pending, which seeks to provide higher compensation for victims of unjust arrest due to “mistaken identity. The proposed bill seeks to amend Section 3 of RA 7309, to include “any person unjustly detained or deprived of liberty due to mistaken identity” as among those who can file for claims. It also aims to amend Section 4 of RA 7309 to increase the compensation for victims of unjust imprisonment or detention to not less than P10,000 per month of detention. (To be continued)

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