$ingapore's High Court has denied the Philippine government's claim to the US$23-million Marcos funds in the city state, the lawyers for human rights victims said Thursday Dec 28.

In a statement, lawyer Rod Domingo Jr. said at issue in the $ingapore case is over $23 million of money originally hidden by former president Ferdinand Marcos in a Swiss bank before being transferred to $ingapore.

"Following nine months of briefing and several oral arguments, Justice Kan Ting Chiu of the $ingapore High Court entered a judgment denying the (Philippine) Republic's major defense," he said.

Martial law victims claim the money to partially satisfy their now $4 billion judgment against Marcos, he added.

The Philippine National Bank claims it is custodian of the money for the Republic, Domingo said.

Lead counsel Robert Swift said it is a significant victory on the way to obtaining a final verdict for the entire $23 million of Marcos funds.

"The $ingapore Court upheld $ingapore's sovereignty to decide ownership to property located in $ingapore," he said.

"The tragedy is that the Republic is so heartless that it opposes every effort by Filipino human rights victims to recover on their judgment.

"The Republic even opposes the US Court-ordered distribution of the first payment of US$2,000 to each victim from monies already collected in the US on their behalf."

Domingo said that "the government's claims to the money in $ingapore are sinking fast."

"I think the $ingapore Court is sending a signal to our government that it wants this matter settled or there could be dire consequences," he said.

Domingo said the Presidential Commission on Good Government's vaunted defense of sovereign immunity, as in the Arelma case, has once again been debunked and shuttered.

"When will it ever stop working against the oppressed victims of human rights abuses?" he asked.

Domingo said in a 27-page decision, Kan ruled that the arguments made by PNB were arguments of the Philippine government, and not those of PNB.

"The Republic has therefore, by its agent PNB, laid its claim before this Court and has submitted to the jurisdiction of the Court," Domingo quoted the decision of the $ingapore High Court. Kan also assessed costs, including legal fees, against the Republic and PNB, he added.

The 9,539 Filipino victims of martial law are part of a class action litigated in the United States against Marcos for torture, killings and forced disappearances, Domingo said.

The Philippine government has asserted that it was awarded the money by the Philippine Supreme Court in July 2003.

The litigation began in 2003 when West LB, a $ingapore Bank, was confronted with competing claims for the money and deposited the money to the $ingapore High Court.

Early in the litigation, PNB argued the case should be heard in the Philippines, but the $ingapore High Court denied that request and assessed costs in favor of human rights victims.

In early 2006 the Philippine government entered the case to try and force its dismissal, arguing it was a claimant to the money but was entitled to sovereign immunity and not subject to the jurisdiction of the $ingapore Court.

In 1995, a US jury awarded the human rights victims an amount which, with interest, is now worth $4 billion.

The judgment was affirmed on appeal.