The Samahan ng mga Ex-Detainee Laban sa Detensyon at Aresto (SELDA), an organization of former political prisoners since Marcos Sr. martial law, has no tears to shed for the passing of Juan Ponce Enrile. For thousands of victims of the Marcos dictatorship, Enrile will forever be remembered neither as a patriot nor a statesman, but as one of the chief architects and defenders of tyranny, repression, and corruption in the country.
As defense minister under Ferdinand Marcos Sr., Enrile played a central role in the declaration and brutal implementation of martial law in 1972. He justified the dictatorship through deception, including the staged ambush on his convoy, which was later exposed as a fabrication to rationalize the imposition of Marcos’ one-man rule. Enrile utilized to the hilt the military and police’s role as instruments of state terror. Under his command, these entities arrested, tortured, and caused the enforced disappearance of thousands of activists, students, journalists, and ordinary citizens.
Enrile’s hands are stained with the blood and suffering of countless victims of martial law. He bore command responsibility for the military’s crimes, and yet, till the end of his life, he neither acknowledged nor apologized for the atrocities committed under his watch. Instead, he chose to distort history and defend the Marcoses, whitewashing their plunder and tyranny.
His supposed breakaway from the Marcos Sr. regime during the 1986 EDSA People Power uprising was not born of principle, but of self-preservation and ambition — a move driven by his greed for power and the need to save his own skin as the dictatorship began to crumble.
True to form, Enrile’s opportunism knew no bounds, as seen decades later when Ferdinand Marcos Jr. appointed him as Presidential Legal Adviser — a chilling symbol of how impunity persists and history repeats itself under the current regime.
Even after the dictatorship, Enrile’s record remained tainted by corruption and opportunism. As senator, he was among those implicated in the multi-billion peso Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or pork barrel scam — a scandal that exposed how public funds meant for the poor were funneled into ghost projects and kickbacks. Though he evaded conviction, his involvement symbolized the deep-seated corruption that continued to plague the political system he helped build and exploit.
For SELDA and for the victims of martial law, there can be no mourning for a man who represented impunity — from dictatorship to corruption, from lies to betrayal of public trust. His long life was one spent in the service of power, not of justice.
As Enrile passes, the demand for accountability remains. His death should not close the book on the crimes of martial law or on the corruption that he and his ilk have perpetuated. Instead, it should strengthen the people’s resolve to continue the fight for truth, justice, and freedom.
No tears for Enrile!
Justice for all victims of martial law and corruption!Never again to dictatorship!
Never again to martial law!