The President yesterday said that the Marcoses could either forge a settlement with the government or face forfeiture of their ill-gotten wealth.

''Of course if there is no settlement, we have to pursue the case. We have to work always for the interest of the government,'' Mr. Estrada said in an interview with reporters in Malaca¤ang.

The President said he approved PCGG Chair Magdangal Elma's request for the hiring of five lawyers ''to speed up'' the ill-gotten cases of the Marcoses and their cronies.

Human rights victims welcomed the PCGG's move as no compromise agreement had been reached with the Marcoses. The Samahan ng mga Ex-detainees Laban sa Detensyon at para sa Amnestiya (Selda) said the rights victims were relieved upon learning that PCGG's new tack would not mean the dropping of the criminal charges against the Marcoses.

But Executive Secretary Ronaldo Zamora said the PCGG had only up to November this year to make good its threat against the Marcoses.

Zamora said the President gave the PCGG only one year from Elma's appointment to do its job.

Elma, who serves as concurrent chief presidential legal counsel, was appointed sometime in November to the PCGG after the President fired Felix de Guzman from the post.

In an interview with dzMM, Zamora said the Estrada administration would not allow the ill-gotten wealth case to drag on so that the PCGG could seek an extension of its term.

Zamora said the statement of PCGG Commissioner Jorge Sarmiento that the pre-trial of all Marcos ill-gotten cases would start sometime this year was aimed at encouraging ''the Marcos family to come to a settlement.''

Sarmiento said the PCGG was pursuing the cases against the Marcoses in the absence of an acceptable agreement with the family.

He said PCGG lawyers were in the thick of making preparations for the coming ''biggest showdown'' with the Marcoses and their cronies in the pre-trial of the criminal and civil cases filed against them.

Zamora noted that it was taking a long time for the Marcos family to appoint a representative to finish the negotiations.

The President started informal talks with Ilocos Norte Gov. Ferdinand ''Bongbong'' Marcos Jr. but suspended these to enable the family to make a common stand.

Marie Hilao-Enriquez, Selda secretary general, dared Mr. Estrada to make good the PCGG's promise to prosecute the Marcoses and obtain favorable judgment for the government.

''After 13 years of lackluster litigation, it's about time the government should live up to the spirit of the Edsa revolution,'' Enriquez said.

She said the Marcoses had ''raided'' billions of pesos from the national coffers, leaving thousands of Filipinos to die from hunger.

The historic people uprising that led to the toppling of the Marcos dictatorship was a ''verdict'' enough for the government to heed, according to Enriquez.

Positive move

 For her part, sectoral Rep. Loretta Ann ''Etta'' Rosales described as ''positive move'' the PCGG decision to buckle down to work and obtain justice for the aggrieved Filipinos.

''This is what we've been hankering about for the past 13 years,'' said the founding chair of Claimants 1081, another group of rights victims.

Selda and Claimants 1081, however, are open to negotiate on the $590 million held in escrow by the Philippine National Bank.

They said they would negotiate a 70-30 sharing scheme only with the government. The two groups agreed that the government should not give to the Marcoses part of the $590 million.

''In the first place, it is immoral and unjust for the government to give back to the Marcoses the money that they have stolen from the Filipino people,'' Enriquez said.

Rosales said the government could keep the $110 million it originally intended to give to the Marcoses. She said the Filipino people, instead of the Marcoses, could use the money.

Earlier, the President considered a 75-25 compromise settlement on the $590-million Marcos deposits in favor of the government.

The ill-gotten wealth was accumulated by the Marcoses during the 20-year rule of their patriarch, the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos.

Mr. Estrada also promised to set aside $150 million for the rights victims, who filed and won a class suit in the United States Ninth District Court, which awarded the victims a total of $2.3 billion.

After the $150 million shall have been deducted, the balance of $440 million would be divided between the government and the Marcoses based on the 75-25 sharing scheme.

Following this scheme, the President expected to recover for the government a total of $330 million while the Marcoses could retain some $110 million.

The rights victims argued that under their proposed 70-30 sharing formula, the government could get a total of $413 million instead of $330 million with the rights victims getting $177 million instead of $150 million.

This would leave nothing for the Marcoses, which, they said, was only ''appropriate.''

But the Supreme Court issued a ruling warning the government against violating the Constitution by dropping the charges against the Marcoses should it enter into a compromise settlement with the Marcoses.

The high court also issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting the government from considering a compromise agreement with the Marcoses.

By Juliet L. Javellana and Christine Herrera