Marcoses asked to drop $630-M claim

President Estrada ordered Executive Secretary Ronaldo Zamora yesterday to convince the Marcos family not to pursue their 30 percent claim on the $630-million escrow account so that the government can finally compensate human rights victims.

Zamora told The STAR that he had already talked with Mrs. Marcos about giving up her family's claim to the escrow account.

"She vehemently objected to it," he said. "She asked how her family would survive without such an amount of money."

But her children -- Imee and Ferdinand Jr. -- are apparently willing to give up their claim.

As this developed, former First Lady Imelda Marcos has been sued for allegedly defaulting on a $5-million loan from the late tobacco heiress Doris Duke.

The lawsuit was filed last Thursday in a state circuit court by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. The complaint included a copy of a March 6, 1990 notarized promissory note from the Marcos widow for repayment of the loan, plus nine percent interest.

Mrs. Marcos failed to repay any of the money, the lawsuit said.

Meanwhile, Zamora said that Sandiganbayan presiding Justice Francis Garchitorena is amenable to a new plan that would compensate the human rights victims by using the $630-million escrow account.

The heirs of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos are laying claim to parts of such an account, based on a 70-30 sharing scheme drafted by the previous administration.

But since the anti-graft court had already thumbed down this plan, the Estrada administration would like the Marcoses to give up their share in this scheme in favor of the human rights victims.

According to Zamora, Garchitorena is ready to reconsider his earlier decision that voided a $150-million settlement deal.

The anti-graft court on Tuesday nullified "with finality" the settlement between the two parties under which $150 million would have been paid out to the claimants from a $630-million escrow account representing seized Marcos Swiss bank accounts.

The deal, backed by the government, was the result of $2 billion in damages a US court had awarded to the claimants who had sought reparations from the Marcos estate in a US lawsuit filed in the mid-1990s.

Garchitorena said in his ruling the deal was "unconstitutional" and would void any future claims the victims might have against the Marcos family.

According to Ferdinand Jr., the Marcos family remains committed in indemnifying the human rights victims.

"We believe that this is a critical step in our common journey towards reconciliation and unity," said the late dictator's son and namesake who is now governor of Ilocos Norte.

"Like everyone involved we want this to end and to end soon. This is why, for 14 long years of protracted litigation, my family has always been willing to compromise," he told a press conference.

"We see the compromise as the most expeditious and equitable way for all parties involved to move on," he added.

The young Marcos said that the family's situation "has become so complicated now" that they were left with two options: Either to enter into a compromise agreement with the Presidential Commission on Good Government or fight it out in court.

"Our family has always been in favor of a negotiated settlement. When I say 'negotiated,' I mean fair. We will not give up any of our rights just to be prosecuted all over again," he said.

He said that unless a fair negotiated settlement with the human rights victims is reached, the $630 million escrow account will be indefinitely stuck at the partly state-run Philippine National Bank.

"This way, nobody wins. Not the claimants, (not) the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program, (or) the government. No one," he said.