Three law firms say Marcoses owe them $43 B

Everybody wants it, including the lawyers.

At least three law firms are demanding a total of $43 billion, or about P1.7 trillion, from the heirs of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

They said they could be paid by tapping the $630-million escrow account at the Philippine National Bank (PNB).

In a related development, American human rights lawyer Robert Swift expressed fears yesterday that the Swiss courts may order the recall of the Marcos money held in escrow at the PNB if human rights victims are not compensated.

He said indemnifying the victims was one of the several conditions set by the Swiss courts to allow the transfer of $630 million from Swiss banks to the PNB.

The biggest claimant among the law firms is the US-based Magaña, Cathcart and McCarthy Law Offices, counsel of the finder of the Golden Buddha, the late Rogelio Roxas.

The law firm said it still has to collect the entire escrow account as partial payment of the Marcoses' debt.

"My clients (estates of Roxas) claim the entire amount held in your escrow account in partial satisfaction of their judgment. My clients were recipients of a judgment against Imelda Marcos in amount somewhat in excess of $43 billion," Daniel Cathcart wrote former PNB president Benjamin Palma Gil.

"Should the bank pay out any money from this ($630-million) fund without our permission and consent, we will hold the bank accountable. The purpose of this letter is to put you and your bank on notice of the claims of the estate of Roxas," he added.

For their part, the Recto Law Office said they just want to be paid at least 10 percent of "whatever share may be adjudicated in favor of the Marcos family."

"We are writing you this letter to formally give notice that in the event a compromise is finally executed ... we have a charging lien duly recognized by the Sandiganbayan over whatever share may be adjudicated in favor of the Marcos family, to the extent of 10 percent thereof," the law firm's Ida Makalinao-Javier said in a letter to PNB senior vice president Jose Ferro.

The Recto law firm has represented the Marcos family in all the civil cases filed against them by the Presidential Commission on Good Government in 1986. They withdrew as the family's counsels in 1990.

Loyalist lawyer Oliver Lozano also wants a share from the escrow account, saying this was what the late dictator had said in his will.

The lawyer said he wants at least $300 million which he plans to distribute to the Filipino people.

At the House of Representatives, an opposition congressman said that any deal struck by the government or human rights victims would be illegal, immoral and against public policy.

Isabela Rep. Heherson Alvarez (Lakas) said any agreement with the Marcoses would exonerate the Marcos family of any wrongdoing during their two-decade rule.

He said the policy laid down under the law is for the government to prosecute the Marcoses, recover their ill-gotten wealth and appropriate it exclusively for the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program.

"We should not deviate from this policy. We should pursue the cases against the Marcoses to their logical conclusion," he added.

He stressed that entering into a settlement with the Marcoses would send the wrong message to future generations that the government is condoning wrongdoing.

"This is not to say that I am against compensating the 10,000 victims of human rights violations during martial law," the former senator and opposition leader said. -- With Jess Diaz, Mayen Jaymalin, Efren Danao, Jose Aravilla, Sheila Crisostomo