By Macon Ramos Araneta

A FORMER golfing buddy of the late president Marcos who is facing a P51-billion ill-gotten wealth case together with Marcos? heirs has declared his willingness to consider a settlement offer from the government.

Herminio Disini, in an amended pre-trial brief he filed last Jan. 13 before the Sandiganbayan, said he ?is willing to listen to, and possibly consider, any reasonable offer from the prosecution.?

Disini said he was doing this upon the advice of his counsels, Napoleon J. Poblador, Manuel Joseph R. Bretana III and Edmon R. Quizon.

Disini is also charged with graft and corruption for allegedly receiving $17 million in kickbacks from Westinghouse Electric Corp., the American firm that cornered the $2.1-billion contract to build the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant, whose cost escalated by four times from $600 million original estimate in 1975 to $2.3 billion at completion in 1984.

Disini is likewise accused of acting as dummy for the Marcos couple in several companies including the Herdis Group, Energy Corp., Vulcan Industrial Mining, United Oriental Bank and Three-M. Disini owned one-third of the Herdis Group while another one-third belonged to Marcos, prosecutors said, citing an affidavit from Herminio?s cousin, Jesus Disini. Jesus, former chief legal officer of Herdis, stated in his affidavits that the Marcos crony conducted his business with the essential help of Marcos. Jesus, the government?s last witness in the 21-year-old case of ill-gotten wealth, said Herdis received numerous favors from the Marcos administration in the form of lucrative projects and behest loans from state-owned financial institutions.

But Herminio challenged the government offer of testimony of his cousin as evidence against him by insisting on the presence of an Immunity Agreement he signed with the Presidential Commission on Good Government in 1989.

Jesus Disini also asked the court to delete from the records his affidavits incriminating his cousin in the Marcos ill-gotten wealth case. He pointed out that his Feb. 22, 1989 affidavit and March 1, 1989 supplemental affidavit contained ?privileged communications? between him and his cousin made during the course of an ?attorney-client relationship.?

Both affidavits alleged that Marcos secretly-owned two-thirds of Herdis Group. Jesus said his position at Herdis made him ?a key and trusted employee [which] necessarily included the availment of his legal knowledge and skills and seeking his advice as legal counsel.?

But state lawyers contended that the information contained in both affidavits are not privileged since it involved communication for the commission of an unlawful act. They said that this partake of a nature of conspiracy or attempted conspiracy.

They said that voiding the affidavits would create a shield for a person who enlists the help of a legal counsel for the purpose of ?concocting a crime.?

The anti-graft court?s first division sustained with finality the government?s authority to compel Jesus Disini to testify against his cousin in the ill-gotten wealth case.

The filing of the ill-gotten wealth case against Disini in 1986 prompted the Swiss authorities to issue a freeze order on his $4-million accounts with Swiss banks.