Enrile on regime change calls: ‘So many people are going to get hurt’

Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Juan Ponce Enrile —PPA POOL

MANILA, Philippines — Chief Presidential Legal Counsel (CPLC) Juan Ponce Enrile on Sunday evening raised concerns about emerging calls for a “regime change,” emphasizing that the country remains a democratic nation.

“We are a democracy. We just had recently elected a president and a vice president under our Constitution. Now, it seems, some people want a regime change,” Enrile stated on Facebook.

“What do we really want? A Leninism? A Maoism? A Fascism? A Banana Republic? What?” he asked.

His statements came as he questioned the motives behind efforts that appear to challenge the current administration.

Enrile stressed that those seeking change should channel their efforts into the upcoming electoral exercises.

“If we want to test our popular strength, why don’t we wait for the coming midterm election next year? If we want a regime change, why don’t we wait for the national election in 2026?” he suggested.

The CPLC also cautioned that the country is at stake in the ongoing struggle for political power.

He urged all parties to exercise greater clarity in their political intentions and approach the matter with care.

“Are we that impatient that we want to have the political power now? Do we want a stable, a peaceful and prosperous society? Or do we want an anarchic social condition? What? Let us be more clear about what we want,” Enrile said.

“Let us bring it out into the open and debate it, and let the whole society decide. Let us be very careful about the matter. So much is involved! So many people are going to get hurt! The whole nation is at stake,” he warned.

Enrile expressed his views amid the escalating political tension between the camps of Marcos and Duterte.

This tension was heightened following Vice President Sara Duterte’s recent disclosure that she had instructed a person to kill President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and House Speaker Martin Romualdez if she gets killed.

READ: NSC: All threats to Marcos are a matter of ‘national security’