Martial law needed to solve crimes in 6 months, Enrile says
Presidential candidate Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte can only solve criminality in the country within six months if he would declare martial law, Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile said on Thursday.
“He’s a good friend of mine, si Digong (Duterte’s nickname) and I must publicly thank him for having supported me in all my political battles,” Enrile said during a weekly forum at the Senate.
“But I can’t make a promise that I’ll be able to solve criminality in such a short period unless he will mobilize the entire organization including the police and the NBI (National Bureau of Investigation) and declare martial law then I believe him, if he’s going to declare martial law. My God, he’s only human being.”
Enrile said he has doubts whether Duterte could fulfill this promise once he gets elected president in the upcoming May elections.
READ: Duterte: Kill me if I fail to bust crime, corruption in 6 months
“We’re talking of capability to do something. I don’t know, I don’t know his formula. That’s why I’m saying I have my doubt…pardon me for expressing my doubt but I hope he can do it,” he said.
“The only thing that I can think of as a formula to really stop criminality in the country like a passing storm is to declare martial law and use it effectively and purposively.”
READ: Duterte: Yes, I’m a dictator, so what?
“But the trouble is that even if he’s the president now and he will declare martial law, Congress can disapprove it, unlike under the 1935 Constitution, once the president declares martial law, that’s it,” the senator added.
Enrile was one of the key personalities during the martial law regime. RAM
