Almost 13 years to the day that the Marcoses fled into exile in Honolulu, the strongman's heirs and the government have agreed to pay $150 million to settle a lawsuit filed by 9,539 human rights claimants.

''The result is both historic first and fair,'' said Robert Swift, the lead lawyer for the abused, following ''provisional'' or preliminary approval of the settlement in a US district court on Wednesday.

But will the victims themselves agree that justice is being served? This early, they are claiming ''this is a secret deal because Swift never consulted us and he left us in the dark.''

The local counsel for the victims, Rod Domingo, claimed that President Estrada knew about the deal and that the latter was instrumental in forging the accord.

The agreement, furthermore, is still subject to the approval of President Estrada and the Sandiganbayan, which recently assumed ''exclusive control'' over the $590 million in escrow funds from which the $150 million is to be taken.

The agreement would also have to be approved by the Supreme Court--which has barred the Philippine government from entering into any deal providing immunity for the Marcoses.

It would then still have to pass final approval of US District Judge Manuel Real, who gave preliminary approval to the settlement Wednesday.

He has scheduled final hearings starting April 14 in Hawaii to determine whether the human rights abuses victims are amenable to the settlement.

'Never before'

''Never before have human rights victims in any country recovered on a judgment against the perpetrator,'' Swift said. ''The average victim, or the heir of a deceased victim, will receive enough to buy land, start a business, educate children, or just improve his or her quality of life.''

If the deal is approved, the money will be distributed through the US District court in Hawaii. The plaintiffs could theoretically get about $16,000 each (around P640,000), although individual payments will actually depend on the gravity of the crime suffered.

If the claimants are satisfied, the agreement will fulfill the first of two conditions set by Swiss courts for the release of the Marcos Swiss bank deposits held in escrow at the Philippine National Bank (but invested abroad).

The rest of the $590 million would be divided between the Marcoses and the government, should they reach a future and separate compromise agreement.

Condition

The Swiss court imposed a second condition on the release of the escrow funds, which still has not been met. There should be an enforceable judgment in a pending forfeiture case against the Marcoses in the Sandiganbayan.

That judgment is supposed to include the declaration that the Marcos wealth, including the money in escrow, was ill-gotten.

But a tripartite deal, involving the Philippine government, the Marcoses, and the human rights claimants, could take the place of this second condition.

A settlement on the government's main civil case against the Marcoses, if approved by all three parties, could free the money, which the Swiss government transferred to the Philippine National Bank (in instruments of investment) last year.

''The Swiss authorities also noted that they would allow the release of the funds if the three parties were to forge a settlement,'' Domingo told the Inquirer.

The deal

The tripartite deal was made by the PCGG, Marcoses, and by Swift, who signed the agreement as class-suit counsel for the victims.

Those who signed for the Marcoses were Imelda Marcos, her son Ilocos Gov. Ferdinand Marcos Jr., their lawyers James Linn and John Bartko, and representatives of the five Marcos dummy foundations which hold the accounts where the escrow deposits are placed.

The Marcoses' lawyers applauded the settlement.

''Any time you can settle a judgment like $1.9 billion for that kind of money--$150 million--you've got a good deal,'' said James Linn, the Oklahoma City lawyer who represented Marcos's widow.

The five Marcos foundations were Avertina Foundation which has $404 million in its account, Aguamina Corp. with $131.7 million, Palmy Foundation with $26.73 million, Maler Foundation with $20.95 million and Vibur Foundation with $5.47 million.

Next steps

Domingo said the next step would be to formally inform President Estrada of the agreement.

Mr. Estrada would then order the Presidential Commission on Good Government to file a motion with the Sandiganbayan asking for the release of the escrow money.

Within 10 days of the Sandiganbayan's approval, the $150 million would be placed in a ''reputable commercial bank'' to be designated by Real in Hawaii, Domingo said.

The money would be placed in an ''interest-bearing account'' under the control of the US District Court, which would supervise its distribution among the plaintiffs.

The account would be called the ''Plaintiffs Settlement Fund.''

Its assets ''shall be invested, in the discretion of the Court, in a manner to achieve maximum earnings . . . to pay claims without undue delay,'' according to the agreement.

The catch?

Pressed on the terms and conditions of the agreement, Domingo said the human rights victims would rest their case against the Marcoses.

''We would no longer pursue the fulfillment of the $2.3 billion because it is enough that the Marcoses recognized that Marcos was liable for the human rights violations he had committed against the Filipinos,'' Domingo told the Inquirer.

''In short, the rights victims would no longer take a share from whatever assets that would be recovered by the government.''

What victims want

The heirs of the so-called desaparecidos, and others ''salvaged'' by soldiers, police and other agents of martial rule said news of the deal caught them by surprise.

Marie Hilao-Enriquez, a torture victim and Selda secretary general, complained that her group was not consulted by Swift and Domingo about the settlement.'' They did an injustice to us,'' she said yesterday.

She demanded full disclosure of the terms and conditions of the agreement.

''What we wanted is for the Marcoses to apologize, be prosecuted, convicted and jailed and not be given immunity from suit,'' she said. ''That's only when justice would be served us.''

But Domingo said that ''justice has been finally attained.''

''We established in a court of law that Marcos was legally responsible for massive human rights abuses. By accepting a settlement, we preserve that precedent and obtain money to be distributed to the victims,'' he said.

''The 13-year odyssey to compensate victims of human rights violations of the Marcos dictatorship is over,'' Domingo said. ''It is no longer satisfactory to just demonstrate the abuses in a court of law. Victims must be compensated.

''What we do here and now will resonate throughout the world --a despot who abused his people will finally pay,'' he added.

Background

The lawsuit was filed in Honolulu in 1986 on behalf of the plaintiffs, who in 1995 won a class-action suit against the Marcos estate for torture, summary executions and disappearances.

The group of victims also won for themselves the distinction of being the first in the world to have won a suit for damages against a former dictator.

Real was the same judge who awarded their claim for damages. Marcos was subject to being sued in a US court because he was residing in Hawaii at the time.

Jurors awarded $1.9 billion to the plaintiffs, including $1.2 billion in punitive damages. The judgment was upheld by the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in December 1996, but the plaintiffs had trouble collecting money in foreign accounts with contested ownership.

They later agreed to settle for less to avoid protracted court battles.

Ms Marcos said last September that she was willing to settle the case for $150 million ''out of compassion, not guilt'' for the victims.

The Philippine government was involved in the suit because it claimed that all of Marcos' assets rightly belonged to the government.

'Waiting for deal'

Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Francis Garchitorena seemed to be waiting for this deal, sources said. They said he prevented government lawyers from the Office of the Solicitor General from presenting their ''overwhelming'' evidence against the Marcoses on the forfeiture case, because of the escrow agreement.

Garchitorena also claimed he still had to wait for the finality of the Supreme Court's decision, declaring as void the 75-25 deal forged in December 1993. The high tribunal also barred the government from entering into secret deals with the Marcoses that would put the country's interest at stake.

On Monday, the Sandiganbayan had ordered the PNB to make a full accounting of the escrow funds, including a report on how these were invested and re-invested by the bank.

It was the first time that it had assumed control over the funds, to the point of giving directives to PNB.

Solicitor General Ricardo Galvez said earlier that he could not understand why Garchitorena was only doing this now, when the funds were presumably transferred to the country more than a year ago.

''We were surprised, he was suddenly interested with the escrow agreement, and with the investments done on the funds,'' he said.

By Donna S. Cueto and Christine Herrera, with a report from AFP