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Robert
Swift, the lead American lawyer of the 9,539 victims of
martial law, will be in the country this week to meet
with the leaders of the victims, to discuss the
possibility of entering into a compromise agreement with
the government regarding Marcos assets reaching $100
million but under litigations in US and Singapore courts
in the last ten years.
The
Philippine government and the human-rights violation
victims, who won a landmark $2.35-billion class suit
against the Marcos estate in the US district Court in
Honolulu in 1995, have been tied in a legal tug-of-war
for Marcos assets stashed in various banks abroad.
These
include the $35-million Marcos deposits kept under
Panamanian firm Arelma Inc. in Merill Lynch, New York;
the $22 million kept in a Singapore branch of German
bank West LB; and last, tracts of lands located in Texas
and Colorado titled under former Marcos crony Jose Y.
Campos.
Claimants 1081 founding chairman and former party-list
representative Etta Rosales of Akbayan said the
possibility of entering into a compromise with the
government will be discussed during the meeting with
Swift, who will be in the country on May 5, 6 and 7.
“It’s
high time that we give something to the claimants
because they are now either sick or have died already
and their families need financial assistance,” said
Rosales.
She
stressed that the battle is now “between the government
and the claimants and no longer against the Marcoses, so
it’s about time we enter into a settlement [with the
government].”
Rod
Domingo Jr., lead Filipino counsel of the Marcos
victims, said Swift will also hold a series of
conferences with the human-rights abuse victims on the
developments of the cases in US and Singapore courts.
“He
[Swift] will discuss the status of the Arelma case now
pending in the United States Supreme Court and the
interpleader filed in Singapore,” said Domingo in a
statement issued over the weekend.
“He will
also report on the action being taken regarding the
claims of the victims in the court of Singapore, wherein
they have already won in the High Court of Singapore,
and trial on the merits will ensue,” he added.
The US
Supreme Court is expected to render a final judgment on
whether to uphold the decisions of the US District Court
in Honolulu and the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to
award the $35-million Arelma account of the Marcoses to
the martial-law victims by late June this year. Each of
the martial-law victims is expected to receive a $2,500
share from the Arelma deposit.
Domingo,
meanwhile, said the High Court in Singapore is also
expected to rule on the claims to the $22-million Marcos
deposits left in the Singapore branch of West LB. The
amount is part of the $681-million Marcos Swiss deposits
that the Swiss government has ordered returned to the
Philippines in July 2005 after the Philippine Supreme
Court declared that the funds are ill-gotten wealth of
the Marcoses.
“Mister
Swift will also announce the status of the claims of the
litigations involving tracts and acres of lands located
in Texas, and Colorado, which were suspected to belong
to the former dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos but already
in the name of some of the cronies and children of Jose
Y. Campos,” he said. |
