MANILA – A lawyer who served as a spokesman for former President Corazon Aquino urged the public to reject any attempt to revise history by lying about what really happened during the martial law era under the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr.
Former senator Juan Ponce Enrile had made statements that contradicted historical accounts, and even his own pronouncements, in an interview with the late strongman’s son and namesake, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.
Rene Saguisag said Enrile, who was defense minister during the Marcos regime and was considered as the chief architect of martial law, was just protecting his reputation as he sees the son of the late dictator as a potential president.
“Why after more than 30 years ngayon lang natin nadidinig iyan? Kausap pa si Bongbong. We have to alert the public, ’pag nag-usap ’yang dalawa, either binobola tayo o nagsisinungaling,” Saguisag told cable news channel ANC.
“Siguro nagpapalakas ’yan kay Bongbong dahil baka maging – heaven forbid! – presidente raw. He has to protect his wealth, his reputation kaya brown-nosing a potential president in my view,” he added.
Speaking with Marcos, Enrile said he withdrew support from the late dictator because he was preventing a military junta, a statement that contradicted what he said in a 1986 interview that he did so because “I can no longer serve the government.”
Enrile also said no one was jailed nor tortured because of political belief during the Marcos regime despite him signing the martial law victims’ reparation law as Senate president.
Saguisag, who was imprisoned after criticizing Marcos during the martial law era, said Enrile cannot be trusted because he changes his statements for self-serving purposes. (ABS-CBN News)
