Marcoses, Enriles no longer at war – Jack Enrile

Sen Gringo Honasan, Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos and Cagayan Rep. Jack Enrile met for lunch in Laoag City on Sunday. UNA took its campaign to the area in the hopes of courting the province’s 400,000 voters.

LAOAG CITY, Ilocos Norte — Despite the notion that enmity runs deep between the Enriles and the Marcoses, Cagayan Representative Jack Enrile on Sunday said that the two clans are no longer at war.

“They have buried the hatchet,” Enrile said.

“I hope that the next generations from both sides of the families can work things out,” the opposition candidate told reporters in an interview in Laoag City.

The young Enrile’s father, then defense chief and now Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, had been instrumental in putting down the martial law regime of dictator Ferdinand Marcos back in 1972.

Enrile, along with former President and at the time chief of the now defunct Integrated National Police Fidel Ramos, rallied groups against the Marcos dictatorship, a move which led to the People Power Revolution.

This has caused a rift between the two families but time heals, according to the young Enrile who believed that they have come to a point where their families’ “long history of friendship” has settled their differences.

The relationship between the Enriles and Marcoses had been “at times stormy and contentious but we Filipinos are known for being understanding.”

“I believe my father and the [former] first lady [Ilocos Norte Representative Imelda Marcos] have, on many occasions, talked about what happened in the past,” he said.

The two were “at the very least cordial,” described the Cagayan legislator.

“They were the first to bury the hatchet soon after the Edsa revolution, they found an opportunity to talk and settle their differences. I believe that they have patched things up,” Enrile said.

He added that the Senate leader was grateful to Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. who has endorsed the Cagayan lawmaker in his bid for a seat in the Senate this year.

Enrile and several other bets were in Ilocos Norte, bailiwick of the Marcos family, to court the province’s roughly 400,000 registered voters for support.

They were particularly hopeful that they would get the Marcoses’ endorsement and would be able to secure 50 percent of the region’s votes come May 13.

“I’m actively seeking support of Imee Marcos and [former] first lady Imelda Marcos. We are hoping to meet with them soon [to ask for] their support,” said Enrile.

Senator Gregorio Honasan said that Ilocos Norte votes were significant as the area “can make or break candidacies.”

But it remains to be seen whether the Marcoses would endorse the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) candidates. Incumbent Ilocos Norte Governor Imee Marcos declined to say whether their family would pledge their support to the entire slate.

When asked for comments on UNA’s campaign activities in the region, the reelectionist governor said, “I’m just here to [be with] old friends. I have no political comments to make.”

But friendship between the family was “a whole different story,” said Marcos who maintained she was meeting the younger Enrile and Honasan as friends.