COTABATO CITY, Philippines – Authorities have warned claimants of financial proceeds from the class suit won in American court for the Marcos regime’s human rights victims to shun “fixers” or third parties offering services for fees.

“I call on all eligible claimants not to allow themselves to be victimized by persons… offering them assistance to facilitate their documents as fixers or focal persons for a fee,” Commission on Human Rights (CHR) chairperson Etta Rosales announced over a radio station.

Rosales added: “These people are swindlers and extortionists, and we in the CHR do not allow these, all our claimants should directly transact and communicate with our CHR offices.”

She said she has already directed their field offices “to watch out and document these illegal activities and to file cases against these people if necessary.”

Rosales said she had personally witnessed an instance of such scam when she distributed some cash awards in General Santos City last month.

One claimant lacked a CHR-required document when asking for his share of P43,000 (US$1,000) in check, but in less than 15 minutes he surprisingly returned with such document ‘fabricated” by unidentified people inside a van parked nearby, she said.

She said law enforcers upon her request responded and pursued the van up to Kidapawan City where the pursuers unfortunately lost track of them.

Rosales said they have also “discovered some people who manufactured postal and Philhealth IDs inside a mall” in General Santos City.

“This (scam) is a very serious issue,” Rosales said, stressing that she had asked the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Post Office authorities to investigate their personnel who might be involved in these “magic” activities.

Rosales explained that these claimants are those who are included in the class suit claims for the Marcos human rights victims numbering more or less 7,600 claimants nationwide.