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THE HISTORIC agreement compelling the family of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos to compensate victims of abuse under his rule is the first step in a broader settlement with the government over his ill-gotten wealth, Ferdinand ''Bongbong'' Marcos, the son of the late dictator yesterday said.
Executive Secretary Ronaldo Zamora echoed Marcos.
''This ($150 million) is the first step, you have to finish first with the human rights claimants before you get into an actual discussion about divisions,'' he said.
Zamora said the landmark deal must go through a long process of approval before the $150 million was finally awarded to the human rights claimants.
''Before that is implemented, it has to be approved by the President, and then we will submit it to the Sandiganbayan and possibly even to the Supreme Court,'' Zamora told reporters.
He said President Estrada's final approval ''is almost assured.'' After the claimants get their due, Zamora said the government and the Marcos heirs would negotiate a sharing agreement for the rest of the $590 million.
''After the $150 million, the next part of the agreement will have to be discussed and that is a discussion of what the division will be between the government and the Marcos family.''
Zamora said the government should get at least 75 percent.
''Our initial position is 75-25. We expect the government to get at least 75 percent but we may get some more,'' he said.
Mr. Estrada favors a compromise settlement in recovering the ill-gotten wealth of the Marcoses.
The young Marcos earlier said that his family had wanted a global settlement with the government, including the dropping of charges against them.
''In our meeting with the President, he said, 'why don't we settle this first before we talk about the negotiated settlement between the government and the Marcos family,''' said the young Marcos, governor of Ilocos Norte.
The Marcos family has agreed to pay $150 million to 9,539 Filipinos who won a class action suit against the Marcos estate for the torture, summary execution and disappearance of dissidents during the Marcos regime.
The money would come from the $590 million in Marcos's Swiss bank deposits, which have been transferred to an escrow account of the Philippine National Bank.
Real approval
US District Judge Manuel Real, who is based in Los Angeles, gave preliminary approval to the settlement Wednesday. A final hearing is scheduled April 14 in Hawaii, where the class action lawsuit was filed.
Mr. Estrada has also given his preliminary approval, according to presidential spokesperson Jerry Barican.
A settlement between the Marcoses and the rights victims is one of the first two conditions set by the Swiss Federal Court for the release of the $590 million.
The Swiss court's second condition on the release of the escrow fund is an enforceable judgment in a pending forfeiture case against the Marcoses with the Sandiganbayan.
The second condition has yet to be met.
Malacaņang said the deal was part of the compromise talks that the President had started with the Marcos family.
Executive Secretary Ronaldo Zamora said human rights lawyers had met with the President before they signed the deal with the Marcos family and the Presidential Commission on Good Government.
Reports from Juliet Labog-Javellana and AP
Philippine Daily Inquirer, February 27, 1999 | 
