Enrile's Take on the Possible Martial Law Declaration
Senator Juan Ponce Enrile is a politician and lawyer. He has served during Marcos time as Justice Secretary and then Defence Minister and later on became one of the leaders during the 1986 People Power Revolution. He continued to be a prominent politician since then and was Senate President from November 2008. He resigned on June 5 2013.
When asked about his take on the possible declaration of Martial Law on the 21st, the senator stated that we should be thankful that our President is trying to solve all the problems that we are currently facing as a country.
"In a way you should be thankful that Duterte came because he's now working to solve the drug problem, the criminality of the police or tulisan, ISIS and all these; at the age of 72! Would you rather live under a system like North Korea? That is the prototype of the system some people want to install in this country"
From all the experiences he had and taking part in Marcos' time, the former Senate President believes that Duterte is facing much bigger problems nowadays than Marcos.
"Duterte might declare martial law because he has bigger probles now than Marcos. He has the communist insurgency, ISIS, a big drug proble, a vociferous opposition and the traditional problem of Mindanao"
He and his wife, Cristina recently celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. It was during the event that he was asked about is thoughts on the possible Martial Law on the 21st. Is he supporting Duterte with this?
"Whether I support him or not, we will be under martial law if he declares it. What can I do? I will not oppose him. How can I, I'm no longer in politics? If they can't find a different methodology to control the situation, he might declare martial law"
He totally agreed with the President's decision to declare September 21 a holiday and have people rally on the streets, but warned them to not destroy or hurt people or vandalize.
"The police are an instrument of the state; if they violate their sworn duty and go out of line, they have to be brought to court. And that's exactly what's going on"
Enrile served as Defense Minister for 17 years and when asked about his thoughts in Marawi, he stated that the government would be lucky if they are able to control it in one year.
He goes, " ISIS is a worldwide problem, that's why I said the President has bigger problems than we encountered back then (during Marcos' time) the constabulary, which is now PNP, and the military were consolidated under one department, which was under me. Our problems were the MNLF, CPP-NPA, that's it. We don't have ISIS, we don't have the drug problem"
He also warned everyone that there are "some people" who wanted to bring the "North Korean ideology" in the Philippines. And Enrile said those people were the ones holding the guns rules.
"Whether I support him or not, we will be under martial law if he declares it. What can I do? I will not oppose him. How can I, I'm no longer in politics? If they can't find a different methodology to control the situation, he might declare martial law"
He totally agreed with the President's decision to declare September 21 a holiday and have people rally on the streets, but warned them to not destroy or hurt people or vandalize.
"The police are an instrument of the state; if they violate their sworn duty and go out of line, they have to be brought to court. And that's exactly what's going on"
Enrile served as Defense Minister for 17 years and when asked about his thoughts in Marawi, he stated that the government would be lucky if they are able to control it in one year.
He goes, " ISIS is a worldwide problem, that's why I said the President has bigger problems than we encountered back then (during Marcos' time) the constabulary, which is now PNP, and the military were consolidated under one department, which was under me. Our problems were the MNLF, CPP-NPA, that's it. We don't have ISIS, we don't have the drug problem"
He also warned everyone that there are "some people" who wanted to bring the "North Korean ideology" in the Philippines. And Enrile said those people were the ones holding the guns rules.
source: philstar
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