He did so even as President Estrada told reporters the government would not object to the motion for reconsideration filed on Monday by Ilocos Norte Gov. Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Rep. Imee Marcos and Irene Araneta.

In a statement, Chavez urged the high court to reject the petition, which he described as being "in no better category than useless scraps of paper." He said the motion should simply be "stricken off the record."

The children of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos had asked the high court to reconsider its Dec. 9, 1998 ruling voiding a 75-25 compromise deal with the administration of then President Fidel Ramos.

They claimed they had not been given a "sporting chance" to present their side.

But Chavez said the Marcoses lost their chance to intervene in the case when they "slept on their alleged constitutional right to due process."

He pointed out that they had not, until now, bothered to intervene in the case, which he had filed as a taxpayer's suit in February 1998.

The Marcos heirs filed their motion more than six weeks after the high court had promulgated its decision. By law, a decision can be appealed only within 15 days of its promulgation.

Chavez said it was "too late in the day" to appeal, much less intervene in the case, which involved the agreement the family had forged with the Presidential Commission on Good Government in December 1993.

"He who is silent when he ought to speak, shall not be allowed to speak when he ought to be silent," Chavez's statement said.

Chavez said the arguments the Marcos children had raised in their petition had been rejected by the high court in previous hearings.

"The Supreme Court nullified the PCGG-Marcos agreements because they suffer from fatal infirmities: grant of tax exemptions to the Marcoses; a deceptive 75-25 sharing; and grant of immunity from criminal prosecution for past, present and future cases," Chavez said.

'Read it in the news'

In Malacañang, Mr. Estrada said he would wait for the high court's decision on the legality of the controversial deal before resuming negotiations with the Marcos family.

"That's already in the court. That's precisely why they're filing their petition in court, because it is for the court to decide. If it's legal then we go ahead," the President said. Mr. Estrada said he had "just read in the newspaper" about the Marcoses' petition.

"I have not talked to them about it. Inasmuch as it is in the Supreme Court, let the Supreme Court decide," he repeated, when pressed for comment.

Mr. Estrada said he would not instruct the Office of the Solicitor General to respond to the petition. "I don't think so, let us leave that to the wisdom of justice," Mr. Estrada said.

Imee's threat

In the House, four young congressmen who were set to file a resolution imposing conditions on a new deal between government and the Marcoses have decided to wait as well—in this case, for the President to make a move.

Representatives Michael Defensor, Robert Ace Barbers, Rolando Andaya Jr. and Juan Miguel Zubiri agreed Monday night to defer filing the resolution, which proposes, among other things, that the Marcos heirs be allowed to retain a maximum of 2 percent of all of their assets.

"We're waiting for the government's strategy on how they will deal with the Marcoses," said Zubiri, who yesterday also came under fire from Rep. Imee Marcos.

Ms Marcos threatened Zubiri she would expose anomalies allegedly committed by his family if he continued to pursue the "personal attacks" against the Marcoses.

"I'm admonishing him to take it easy because, as we all know, his family has also had some involvement (with the Marcoses). So I suggest that he stop making these personal attacks," she said.

Zubiri did not say whether Ms Marcos's threat had influenced the decision to postpone filing the resolution.

By Donna Cueto, Juliet Javellana and Rocky Nazareno