Palace: Law, court rulings acknowledge martial law abuses
MANILA, Philippines — The Palace on Monday said that the law as well as court decisions are clear that there were grave human rights violations during martial law, contrary to claims by former Sens. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and Juan Ponce Enrile last week.
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque in a press conference said the two former senators—who released videos of staged conversations sanitizing martial law and the administration of ousted dictator Ferdinand Marcos—are entitled to their own beliefs.
“But as far as the Palace is concerned, there are decisions affirming that there were grave human rights violations during the Marcos regime,” Roque added.
Marcos' Martial Law videos
On September 20, Marcos posted a video on his Facebook page that showed his conversation with Enrile who claimed that there were no arrests during the martial law period from 1972 to 1981.
Several groups, human rights victims and lawmakers slammed Enrile and the younger Marcos for the said video that put forth a narrative that is a far departure from documented history.
But Roque said that they cannot distort history.
“I don’t think they can twist history, where there’s a law and court decisions attesting to what happened during martial law,” the Palace spokesman added.
Marcos posted a new video, also with Enrile, on September 22, and it has been shared more than 15,000 times.
The first video, meanwhile, has been shared more than 35,000 times.
Reparations ongoing
Roque also pointed out that there is already a law that mandates compensation for qualified victims of rights violations during the Marcos dictatorship.
He recalled that members of the compensation board aired their grievances over “last minute problems for release of compensation.”
He stressed that for the Palace, “we are implementing the law and the law says there are repatriations paid to the victims of martial law.
READ: No pause on recovery of Marcos loot, closure for Martial Law victims — Palace
The Palace earlier said that an executive order may be needed to release at least P800 million worth of funds that remain undistributed to claimants of compensation funds.
NUJP: Journalists were jailed during martial law
The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines has also slammed Enrile for attempting to “deodorize” the Marcos years.
In a statement, the NUJP countered Enrile’s claims and said: “Scores of journalists were among those rounded up and jailed. Others went underground to join the armed struggle against the dictatorship.”
NUJP said the media was also crucial in the downfall of the late dictator “when they exposed the regime’s lies and quenched the people’s thirst for the truth about what was happening to the country.”
“All that is documented and no amount of dissembling by Enrile can change that,” the journalists’ group added.
The National Press Club has yet to issue a statement on
EDSA People Power not 'fake news' either
Last February, Roque also said that 1986 EDSA Revolution, that overthrew the regime of Marcos, is not “fake news.”
READ: Palace: People Power not a product of 'fake news'
This was in reaction to Presidential Communications Assistant Secretary Mocha Uson’s Facebook poll on whether the people power revolution was a product of “fake news” — a term often used for propaganda and misniformation made to look like legitimate news articles.
The spread of fake news has been widely seen by experts as a major global threat with its reported ability to manipulate elections and imperil democracies.
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