Enrile claims Jabidah massacre was only ‘invented’ by Ninoy

The Jabidah massacre was fabricated by the late Senator Benigno Aquino to destabilize the administration of then President Ferdinand Marcos, former Senator Juan Ponce Enrile has claimed in a tete-a-tete with former Senator Bongbong Marcos on Thursday.

“It started   when they  invented the Jabidah massacre,”  Enrile  said  when asked by Marcos what prompted the declaration of martial law by his father and namesake, the late strongman  Ferdinand Marcos.

“I say invented because until now I have not heard of anyone who complained about anybody being massacred in Corregidor. No one,”  Enrile, who also served as defense secretary under President Marcos, went on.

“The only one who appeared as a member of the supposedly Muslim training in Corregidor was that fellow who swam across Corregidor to Cavite which was the invention of Montano and Ninoy Aquino.”

Enrile was referring to then Cavite Governor Delfin Montano. The lone survivor of the massacre, Jibin Arula, was allegedly brought before Montano in 1968.

The Jabidah massacre was the alleged killing of Moro soldiers by members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines that took place in Corregidor Island.

Enrile furthered claimed that Marcos declared martial law because of the coalition between the Liberal Party and the New People’s Army.

He said  the late strongman  also declared martial supposedly to quell the growing unrest in the country due to communist insurgency.

The Jabidah massacre was the alleged killing of Moro soldiers by members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines that took place in Corregidor Island.

Enrile furthered claimed that Marcos declared martial law because of the coalition between the Liberal Party and the New People’s Army.

He said  the late strongman  also declared martial supposedly to quell the growing unrest in the country due to communist insurgency.

Coalition between Liberal Party and CPP pushed Marcos to declare martial law

Enrile said an alliance between the communists and the Liberal Party (LP) prompted the former president to place the entire country under martial law in 1972.

“One of the reasons why President Marcos finally declared martial law was because there was already a working coalition between the LP and the NPA (New People’s Army), the new communist party headed by Sison at this point,” he said.

“President Marcos realized that the country was too fragile with a very limited military capability to contain the problem,” he added.

Enrile responded in the affirmative when Bongbong Marcos asked him if there was a formal agreement between the LP and the Communist Party of the Philippines.

“I met with Ninoy Aquino in the house of Ramon Silay. Paul Aquino is still alive. He was present in that meeting. He was the one who reported to me that he had a meeting with the leadership of the communist party, they were discussing a coalition government,” he recounted.

“We were dealing with separatism in Mindanao. We were dealing with a very strong communist party. We were dealing with the onset of drug menace in the country. We were dealing with political warlords over the land and the high criminality in the land,” Enrile said.  /muf