This was disclosed yesterday by Romeo Capulong, counsel of the human rights victims led by the Samahan ng mga Ex-Detainee Laban sa Detensyon at para sa Amnestiya (Selda).

Capulong said the P1.8 billion represented 30 percent of the total assets due to be auctioned off this year. He said the amount was based on the formula agreed upon by the government and the National Democratic Front to settle the $1.9-billion judgment awarded by the US 9th Circuit Court in connection with the class suit filed against the Marcos estate by 10,000 victims of human rights violations. The amount has reached $2.3 billion because of accrued interest, he said.

Capulong said NDF Chair Luis Jalandoni and Executive Secretary Ronaldo Zamora discussed the formula shortly after Jalandoni's arrival from the Netherlands early this year. He said the formula covered all the assets recovered here and abroad.

But this early, PCGG Chair Felix de Guzman said the 30-percent share may not be made available to the rights victims. ''The reason the PCGG is selling all these assets is the government is cash-strapped,'' De Guzman told the Inquirer. ''The priority is to raise funds for the government to remedy the financial constraints it is facing now. 'It is also for this reason that we are rushing up the auction, because we barely have a year to do all these things.''

The assets include the surrendered shares in Manila Electric Co. and Eastern Telecommunications Inc.

De Guzman said the rights victims could only lay claim to assets that were ''sequestered'' but not those ''surrendered'' by the Marcos cronies. ''Why?'' Capulong countered. ''Would surrendered assets mean these were not ill-gotten?

By Christine Herrera