The split in the local communist movement has reached the 10,000 claimants in the 12-year-old class suit against the Marcos estate. Accusations and counteraccusations run thick with one group labelling the other as having ''done nothing but only interested in collecting the money.''

The Samahan ng mga Ex-Detainees Laban sa Detensyon at para sa Amnestiya (Selda) led by Dan Vizmanos and Marie Hilao-Enriquez is now pitted against the Claimants 1081 led by Sectoral Rep. Loretta Ann ''Etta'' Rosales. Both groups claim to have the ''numbers'' or majority of the human rights victims.

The two groups maintain two different sets of lawyers but both recognize Robert Swift as the lead counsel in the class suit they had filed and won against the Marcoses. Selda, the group that originally came up with the idea of filing a class suit, recently rejected the services of human rights lawyer and former Sen. Rene Saguisag and trial lawyer Rod Domingo. Claimants 1081 are retaining the two lawyers. Selda hired lawyer Romeo Capulong to represent it in its claims for the $1.9 billion awarded by the US courts. The money has since earned interest and now amounts to $2.3 billion.

Saguisag and Domingo branded as ''unethical'' Capulong's decision to take on Selda's case.

Domingo said when the case was still at the preparatory stage, his group approached Capulong and offered him to handle the case three times.

''Capulong rejected the offer three times,'' Domingo said. ''Now, that we are talking about the money, he gamely took on the case and solicited special power of attorney from the Marcos victims.''

The human rights victims belonging to Selda signed a ''special power of attorney'' designating Capulong as their official representative to the case and to the negotiations with the government and the Marcoses.

Capulong came in following complaints from the human rights victims that Swift and Domingo were charging excessive lawyers' fees of as much as 40 percent of the awarded amount.

Saguisag offered his services pro bono. Rosales, however, argued that only the US courts, not the Marcos victims, could decide how much exactly would be allotted for lawyers' fees. Saguisag maintained Selda could not just ''kick me out'' of the human rights case.

To begin with, Saguisag said, it was the Movement of Attorneys for Brotherhood, Integrity and Nationalism Inc. (Mabini) that helped Selda. Saguisag said that a plaintiff in a simple case could hire and fire a lawyer but not in a case involving a class suit.

He accused the National Democratic Front of asking the government to sign an agreement that would make possible the coursing of the $2.3 billion in compensation through the NDF.

This was vehemently denied by Luis Jalandoni, NDF chair of the panel negotiating with the government.

Under Article 5 of the agreement, Saguisag said, the NDF wanted the money by inserting the provision which reads:

''Should there be any settlement, the government shall also execute with the duly authorized representatives of the victims a written instrument to implement this Article and guide the satisfaction of the claims of said victims, with regard to the amount and mode of compensation, which shall be the most direct and quickest possible to every victim or heir in accordance with the relevant Swiss Supreme Court decisions.''

Saguisag, Domingo and Swift preferred ''direct payment'' to the human rights victims.

But under the agreement, it says that in case of any settlement outside of US jurisdiction, all or the majority of the victims shall determine their representation by power of attorney.

According to Rosales, the US courts have made it clear that each of the victim would be paid compensation directly. ''The US courts would write each of the victim, verify if they are the real beneficiaries and give them the money directly,'' she said.

Selda also accused the Claimants' lawyers of entertaining the compromise settlement with the Marcoses without even consulting the group. The lawyers, Selda said, agreed to settle in exchange for the dropping of civil and criminal charges against the Marcoses.

''There was never such an agreement,'' Saguisag said. ''Not in my wildest dreams did we ever entertain that idea. No way.''

Selda said Saguisag and Domingo engaged in ''insidious manipulation, gross misrepresentation and spurious claims'' to prevent the real victims from fully asserting their legal rights. They also branded the Claimants 1081 as ''collaborators'' of Saguisag and Domingo.

What they wanted, Selda said was for Capulong to ''assist and ensure a principled, reasonable and transparent compromise settlement and satisfaction of the judgment in the class action suit against the Marcos estate.''

Capulong vowed to represent the Marcos victims ''absolutely pro bono,'' or for free. Capulong said the victims would negotiate with the government and the Marcoses if the latter's demand to grant them complete immunity from suits would be denied by the government.

President Estrada is pushing for a 75-25 compromise agreement with the Marcoses in favor of the government in exchange for the dropping of all criminal and civil charges against the Marcoses and their cronies.

''It is the Marcos victims' consensus that they filed the class suit to make the Marcoses pay for the torture, salvaging and harassment they inflicted on them,'' Capulong said.

For he part, Hilao-Enriquez, Selda secretary general and herself a rights victim, said the compensation was being demanded as ''a matter of right.''

Capulong said the rights victims also had the right to claim a share of the money to be recovered by the government from ''surrendered and sequestered'' ill-gotten assets of the Marcoses and their cronies.

The government is planning to raise a total of P7 billion from the Marcos assets surrendered by the cronies that would be auctioned off this year. The rights victims wanted 30 percent of the total amount.

At present, Capulong said, the human rights victims were entitled to 30 percent or $162 million of the $540 million Marcos assets that had been stashed in Swiss banks and was now being held in escrow at the Philippine National Bank.

Capulong said under the Jalandoni-Zamora formula, the minimum 30 percent share would be taken ''off the top'' from the gross of all funds emanating from the recovered Marcos assets.

The formula had been discussed by Jalandoni and Executive Secretary Ronaldo Zamora recently.

As the debate rages as to who should be the rightful lawyers, both groups were asking human rights victims on whose side they're on. As of yesterday, both groups claim to have majority of the human rights victims.

Meantime, the Marcoses remain scot-free.

By Christine Herrera