President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday said the Marcos family has expressed willingness to return gold bars and a portion of their supposed hidden wealth.

"The Marcoses sabi nila they will open everything and probably return maybe yung nakita lang," Duterte said in a speech delivered at the Malacañang.

"Sabi nila, 'We are ready to open and bring back pati a few gold bars.' Sabi nila, 'It's just a few but sabi nila isauli nila,'" the president said.

Duterte did not say the name of the Marcos family spokesperson or the worth of the wealth that will be returned.

According to the Marcos family's emissary, the gold bars and wealth were only kept as former dictator Ferdinand Marcos was trying to secure the Philippine economy.

"Ang sabi nila the father was only protecting the economy... but ganito ang lumabas parang naitago," Duterte said.

"I will accept the explanation whether or not it is true kasi wala na e. They are ready to return," he added.

Duterte said he is set to appoint a former chief justice, a certified public accountant, and a third official who is not affiliated with any party as negotiators.

"Tatlong tao yang mag-usap sa kanila... I'm trying to look for a guy not identified with anybody to handle the negotiations kung gusto nila," Duterte said.

For 30 years, the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) was able to recover P170.7 billion or $3.7 billion, accounting for almost half of the 5 to 10 billion US dollars of alleged ill-gotten wealth.

• How much is Marcos' ill-gotten wealth?

The government is still pursuing 248 cases against the Marcoses and their alleged cronies in various courts, with some appeals pending before the Supreme Court.

• Why the recovery of Marcos 'ill-gotten wealth' has taken ages