ORAL arguments for claimants of the $40 million ill-gotten wealth of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos will be held on March 17 at the United States Supreme Court in Washington DC, Presidential Commission on Good Government commissioner Narciso Nario said.

Nario said PCGG chairman Camilo Sabio's group left last Thursday to meet with American lawyers who will represent the Philippine government in the oral arguments. He said Sabio will provide "additional substantial evidence and information on the Arelma case" to the US lawyers.

The Philippine government's American lawyers will face Robert E. Swift and Rodrigo C. Domingo, American and Filipino lawyers, respectively, of the 10,000 human rights victims of the Marcos regime.

The human rights victims filed a complaint against Merrill Lynch in September 2000 in Hawaii, alleging that the investment firm was holding Marcos assets under Arelma Inc., a Panamanian dummy corporation. A federal court in Hawaii conducted a trial on the merits and eventually awarded the Arelma assets to the martial law victims.

The PCGG and the Office of the Solicitor General have consistently blocked before US courts the release of the Arelma money to the martial law victims, claiming that since the money was ill-gotten this should be released to the National Treasury and then to the government's Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program as mandated by law.

The US high court is expected to issue a ruling next month.

PCGG insiders said Sabio's group includes his brother-in-law and special assistant Gerry Alo Ledonio III; his chief of staff Albert Feria; his daughter May Sabio-Feria; his wife Marlene Sabio; a certain Atty. Jaime Bautista, also a consultant of Sabio's; OIC for asset and management Sonny dela Paz; PCGG secretary Romulo Siazon, and accounting officer Malou Navarro.