Information Bureau
Communist Party of the Philippines
Press Release
August 21, 2015
The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) today said the release yesterday of Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile from detention on bail granted earlier by the Supreme Court smacks of political quid pro quo, especially in the light of the upcoming 2016 elections.
“Enrile’s release from detention is all part of the game of political accommodation being played by the ruling political elite,” said the CPP. “His release could only have been effected with a political exchange deal with the Aquino regime.”
“The revolutionary forces join the Filipino people in denouncing the Aquino regime for having cooked up a political quid pro quo with Enrile leading to his release on bail,” said the CPP.
Legal analysts point out that in granting Enrile’s petition for bail, the Supreme Court made the extraordinary discretion of deciding on the matter which many assert should have been properly decided on by lower trial courts.
The CPP points out further that Aquino-appointed Ombudsman lawyers did not oppose Enrile’s petition, “a clear indication of political collusion.”
“It is outrageously deceitful to claim that Enrile was released on humanitarian grounds because there is no such thing under the Aquino regime or the reactionary judicial system,” said the CPP. “The fact is that thousands of prisoners, including scores of political detainees, are in dire need of medical attention including those who are in their advanced age or are nursing mothers.”
Enrile is identified with the faction supportive of Vice-President Jejomar Binay who is set to run against Aquino-endorsed interior secretary Mar Roxas for president in next year’s elections. Enrile was detained last year on charges of plunder over the use of pork barrel funds. Similarly charged and currently detained are fellow senators Jinggoy Estrada and Bong Revilla, also identified with the political opposition.
“What form of political advantage Roxas gained or Binay lost in Aquino’s deal with Enrile will be more clearly revealed in the coming months,” added the CPP.
“The Filipino people have long demanded that Enrile be punished for his innumerable crimes against the people over the past five decades as the paramount fascist, bureaucrat capitalist and puppet of the US imperialists,” said the CPP.
“In fact, Enrile should long have been imprisoned and punished for his long list of crimes ranging from plunder and corruption since the 1970s to his role in the 1981 Sag-od Massacre of peasants in Las Navas, Northern Samar and his role as chief administrator of the Martial Law regime who ordered the torture and solitary confinement of activists and Marcos’ political opponents,” added the CPP.
The CPP also pointed out to Enrile’s role in the killing of KMU leader Rolando Olalia and Leonor Alay-ay in 1987.