MANILA — Despite the insistence of former senators Juan Ponce Enrile and Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. that no one was arrested during the martial law era, Malacañang on Monday said they could not “twist” history as there is evidence to belie their claims.
Enrile and Marcos, son of late President Ferdinand Marcos Sr., earlier held a discussion posted on social media, claiming that no one was arrested and there were no massacres during the martial law years.
“I don’t think they can twist history when there’s a law and there are court decisions attesting to what happened during martial law,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in a Palace briefing.
Roque was referring to court decisions, granting compensation and reparation to victims of martial law.
“The position of the Palace is we are implementing the law and the law says that there should be reparations paid to victims of martial law,” Roque said.
However, Roque said Enrile and the younger Marcos were both entitled to their own beliefs.
“But as far as the Palace is concerned, there are decisions affirming that there were grave human rights violations committed during the Marcos regime. There’s even a law in Congress which provides for compensation for victims of martial law,” Roque said.
Some martial law victims-turned-lawmakers slammed the two former senators’ claims, noting that there was no way they could hide from the truth.
Several court decisions and reports show that elder Marcos and his cronies stole billions of pesos from the Philippine government during his 21-year term.
Roque, earlier said the government through the Philippine Commission on Good Government is continuing its efforts to recover the ill-gotten wealth stolen from the country. ( Azer Parrocha/PNA)
