Republic of the Philippines v. United States District Court for the District of Hawaii

This interpleader litigation is part of an on-going dispute between the Philippine government and creditors of the Estate of Ferdinand E. Marcos over assets Marcos allegedly secreted from the government while he was President of the Philippines. This litigation concerns the assets of Arel-ma Incorporated, a Panamanian company Marcos created. The assets were held in an account in New York by Merrill Lynch, the plaintiff in this action, until the assets were turned over to the district court in September 2000.

The defendant creditors include human rights victims whose claims we upheld in Hilao v. Estate of Marcos, 103 F.3d 767 (9th Cir.1996). The Republic of the Philippines (“Republic”) is also a defendant in this action as is the Presidential Commission on Good Government (“PCGG”), an agent or instrumentality of the Republic.

This is an appeal by the Republic and the PCGG from the district court’s ruling on two motions to dismiss them as parties to the suit: the Republic and the PCGG’s own motion to dismiss on sovereign immunity grounds and the creditors’ motion to dismiss the Republic and the PCGG on the basis that they are not real parties in interest. The district court…