A federal appeals court has cleared the way for some 9,500 victims of human rights abuses under the regime of the late Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos to start receiving payments from a $35 million account, lawyers for the victims said yesterday.

But the lawyers acknowledge more court challenges could delay the payments.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last week refused to rehear its decision in May that gave the victims the money from a Merrill Lynch brokerage account.

Sherry Broder, a lawyer for the victims, said they could receive $2,000 each in the mail unless there are further delays.

Lawyers for the Philippines government, which wants the money, could not be reached for comment but Broder said government attorneys have indicated that they would ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review the decision.

The government's lawyers also could ask for a postponement of the enforcement of the decision, which could lead to more delays in the payments, according to Broder.

In its order filed Sept. 12, the appeals court said a three-judge panel refused to rehear the case. Also, no active appeals judge asked for a vote on whether a larger panel of 15 should decide the case, the appeals court said.

Broder said the Sept. 12 order ends the proceedings on the 9th Circuit level.

She said the victims' lawyers were hopeful the rehearings would be denied because the decision awarding the money to the victims was well-reasoned.

ACCOUNT OPENED IN '72

The $35 million is from a brokerage account that Marcos opened in 1972 with $2 million, according to the appeals court.

The amount is now the largest single chunk of money obtained by the victims in their quest to collect on a nearly $2 billion verdict awarded by a federal jury in Honolulu in 1995 for some 9,500 victims and their relatives. The victims had been tortured or were executed or disappeared.

Marcos and his family fled to Hawai'i after he was toppled in a "people power" revolt in February 1986, ending his 20-year rule. He died in Honolulu in 1989 without admitting any wrongdoing.

'SYMBOLIC' MEANING

In its ruling affirming that the money should go to the victims, the appeals court last week said the $35 million will "scarcely satisfy" the $2 billion award.

"Nonetheless, the symbolic significance of some tangible recovery is not to be disregarded, and if the recovery is distributed pro rata among the individuals, it will have monetary meaning for the poor among them," the court said.

Broder said the lawyers for the victims are trying to recover through court cases another $20 million in Singapore and millions of dollars more in assets in Colorado and Texas.

She said the $35 million would be disbursed through the federal district court.

Reach Ken Kobayashi at kkobayashi@honoluluadvertiser.com.