Claimants 1081 said the founding chair of the Communist Party of the Philippines would not get a share. But the Samahan ng mga Ex-Detainees Laban sa Detensyon at para sa Amnestiya insisted that he could.

Both groups represent martial law victims who filed and won the class action suit against the estate of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos.

Sectoral Rep. Loretta Ann Rosales, leader of Claimants 1081, yesterday said Sison was not entitled to the Marcos loot because he was not a member of the group that filed a class action suit against the Marcos estate.

Rosales said Sison would not even get a ''single centavo'' from the $2.3 billion awarded by the US courts to the 10,000 victims of human rights violations.

''We, claimants, acknowledge that Sison was a victim of torture but he should not grab the credit from the people who worked hard for the victory of the class suit,'' Rosales added.

Sison and his parents had filed a human rights complaint against the Marcoses for the disappearance of his brother, Francisco, and a former soldier named Jaime Pioponco.

Romeo Capulong, general counsel of Selda and Sison, said his client had filed a ''direct action suit'' but that his case and those of 20 others were consolidated with the class suit.

In short, Sison and the others would be among the recipients of the $2.3-billion award for the victims, according to Capulong.

The lawyer said Sison failed to appear before the US court to testify because he was denied a visa.

But Capulong said he went to The Hague, Netherlands, to record on video Sison's deposition which was presented in the US court.

Capulong said class suit lead counsel Robert Swift could not deny the fact that Sison's case was heard jointly with the other victims.

But lawyer Rene Saguisag, a former senator, said a joint trial could not automatically consolidate the cases.

''Sison still pursues his own case separately from the class suit,'' he said.

Rosales accused Sison of committing an obvious ''conflict of interest'' when the National Democratic Front signed an agreement with the government to recognize the class suit.

In the agreement, Rosales said Sison wanted the NDF to be the conduit of the money that would be recovered from the Marcoses.

Rosales said Capulong and Selda had ''solicited'' special power of attorney from the victims. Capulong denied the legislator's allegation, saying the victims themselves designated Selda and not him as their official representative.

Capulong also denied that money would be coursed through the NDF.

In the Senate, Majority Leader Franklin Drilon yesterday called on the 10,000 victims of human rights abuses during the Marcos regime to come forward.

Drilon made the call in the wake of Malacañang's promise to immediately release a portion of the Marcos assets to the victims.

By Christine Herrera

With a report from Lynda T. Jumilla