Thu | 11.29. 2018 | 9:00 AM

In an ideal judicial system, the guilty is convicted and put behind bars while the innocent is acquitted. But since proving one’s guilt is a long and complicated process, some people are accused and imprisoned for crimes that they did not commit, only to be exonerated.

But by virtue of Republic Act No. 7309 – the law that created the Board of Claims (BOC) under the Department of Justice – victims of unjust imprisonment and violent crimes are entitled to file for compensation for damages and injury.

One of the BOC’s major funding sources is the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR), which remits 1 percent of its revenues to BOC.

Since 1993, PAGCOR has already remitted more than P785 million to BOC. This amount was used mainly for the payment of compensation based on the number of months that the claimant was imprisoned. The law also provides that compensation may be granted to claimants who incurred expenses for their “medical treatments, loss of wage, loss of support or other expenses directly related to injury…”

With an average of 2,000 to 2,500 claims per year, the BOC reported that from 1992 to March 2018, over 46,000 unjustly detained individuals already received compensation.

PAGCOR is able to help compensate unjustly imprisoned individuals by regulating gaming and preventing the proliferation of illegal gambling in the Philippines.

Aside from BOC, PAGCOR remits 50% of its revenues to the National  Treasury. The agency also regularly allocates a portion of its income to various mandated beneficiaries such as the Early Childhood Care and Development Council, the Dangerous Drugs Board, cities hosting a Casino Filipino branch, the President’s Social Fund, among others.

PAGtulong sa maling nahatulan... PAGCOR.

Go back