MANILA, Philippines -- Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman insists the Human Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition Act of 2013 is not discriminatory.

Lagman, the principal author of the law, said Senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. failed to see the point when he questioned why the families of soldiers who were killed and tortured by insurgents during martial law were not considered as beneficiaries of the law.

Lagman explained that the measure considers the agents of the state as the violator of human rights.

"[Bongbong Marcos] said that this law is discriminatory because the soldiers who were victims of the [New People's Army] are not included among the beneficiaries and also the civilians who were victims of non-state actors. He misses the point," Lagman told ANC Tuesday morning.

"International conventions would be clear that with respect to human rights violations, the violator should be the state or agents of the state. With respect to non-state actors, there is the revised penal code and special laws which would take care of them," he continued.

Lagman said human rights victims who had been pursuing cases in Hawaii against the Marcos regime and those identified by the Bantayog ng mga Bayani Foundation may readily avail of the compensation provided by the law as soon as the implementing rules and regulations are ready.

ANC Dateline Philippines, February 26, 2013