Enrile: No massacres, no arrests for criticizing Marcos during martial law
Former Senator Juan Ponce Enrile has claimed that not one person was arrested because of political beliefs and for criticizing the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos during the dark period of the country’s martial rule.
“They claim that we killed a lot of people. When I was interviewed by someone some time ago, I challenged her, name me one that we executed, other than Lim Seng,” Enrile told former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. in a one-on-one interview on Thursday.
The interview was published through Bongbong’s Facebook page, a day before the 46th anniversary of the imposition of martial law on Sept. 21, 1972.
https://www.facebook.com/BongbongMarcos/videos/vb.109924549061054/2257022467867386/?type=2&theater
Enrile also belied accusations that they had arrested 70,000 during the time when he served as then defense secretary.
Article continues after this advertisement“Name me one person that was arrested because of political or religious belief during that period. None. Name me one person that was arrested simply because he criticized President Marcos. None,” he also said.
Article continues after this advertisementBut by May 2015, a total of 75,730 persons have filed their claims as human rights violations victims (HRVVs) during the martial rule before the Human Rights Victims Claims Board.
HRVVs, under the law, are to be classified as 1) victims who died or have disappeared and are still missing, 2) victims who were tortured, or raped or sexually abused, 3) victims who were detained and 4) all other victims.
READ: 75,730 claims of rights violations under Marcos are being processed
Over 100,000 people were also recorded to have been victims of human rights violations during martial law from 1972 to 1981 –70,000 of whom were arrested, 34,000 were tortured, and 3,240 were killed by the military and the police–according to a report by Amnesty International.
READ: Remembering Martial Law under the Marcos regime
Anakpawis Rep. Ariel Casilao meanwhile noted that more than 300 names are listed on the Bantayog ng mga Bayani heroes’ markings. This includes activists who joined the First Quarter Storm– a period of unrest and uprisings to combat tyrannical rule and authoritarianism under the Marcos regime.
Casilao, in a statement, also said based on various human rights groups’ records, the actual victims of extra-judicial killings during martial law were at 3, 257, while torture victims were 35,000 and 70,000 were imprisoned.
He added that the documented number of disappeared was at 737 and that out of those killed, more than 2,500 were tortured, mutilated and dumped for public display, “a signature state terror tactics.”
The 95-year-old Enrile also said that there were no massacres committed during the imposition of martial law.
“During martial law there were no massacres like what happened in Mendiola during the supposed democratic government of Cory Aquino.”
But there were at least two massacres reported between 1972 and 1981: the massacre in Palimbang, Sultan Kudarat on Sept. 24, 1974 and the carnage in Bingcul village in Mindanao on Nov.12, 1977. / muf
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