He said the Marcos family was ready to talk to President Estrada to resolve several issues including the P150-million settlement with victims of human rights abuses as well as the P23.5 billion in unpaid inheritance taxes for property left by the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

"The truth is that we haven't really spoken to the President yet so these issues haven't been raised. Eventually, the tax liability will be included in the talks," the Marcos son said.

He did not elaborate on when the actual talks would take place, merely saying it would be "as soon as possible."

Marcos was in Nueva Ecija as one of the speakers of the two-day 12th National Rice R&D Conference at the Philippine Rice Research Institute central experiment station which opened Tuesday.

Last Monday, the Supreme Court ordered the Marcos family to pay P23.5 billion in taxes assessed for the Marcos estate.

"I don't know how we will approach this and how this will impact on the settlement issue," Marcos said.

The Ilocos governor said he was wondering how the High Tribunal was able to arrive at a figure of P23.5 billion when "it does not even know the actual size of the Marcos estate."

His view was shared by his elder sister, Ilocos Norte Rep. Imee Marcos, who claimed the tax assessment was "too much."

By Manny Galvez