Ex-Senator Saguisag calls Enrile 'demented' over Martial Law claims

Former Senator Rene Saguisag on Monday called former Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile "demented" for claiming that nobody perished during the Martial Law years under late-President Ferdinand Marcos.

Interviewed on News To Go, Saguisag — himself jailed during the Martial Law years — pointed out that it was during Enrile's stint as Senate leader that the Human Rights Compensation bill became a law.

"Palagay ko, 'di lang 'yan [pagkakaroon ng] dementia. Demented na 'yan. Ngayon niya 'yan sasabihin? Eh sa [Senate] leadership pa nga niya napirmahan [yung batas na] Human Rights Compensation," Saguisag said.

He was referring to Human Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition Act, which mandates the Philippine government to compensate the victims of human rights violations during the Martial Law years such as summary executions, enforced disappearances and torture using the P10 billion ill-gotten wealth of Marcos family retrieved from the Swiss bank.

In a videotaped conversation with Marcos' son, former Senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., Enrile said no one was jailed or executed during Martial Law and dared critics to prove him otherwise.

Saguisag, a human rights lawyer, said there is a long list of Martial Law victims, many of them "promising leaders."

"The Marcos regime destroyed the natural evolution of our leaders," he said.

"Many of the young, promising leaders... their flower of youth was nipped in the bud. Kung iisa-isahin ko lahat iyon, magkukulang tayo ng oras."

He then accused Enrile, 94, of "twisting" history.

"Ano ba naman, Manong Johnny. 'Yan ba ay para makakuha ka ng proteksyon kay Bongbong so you are revising or twisting history," Saguisag said. —Llanesca T. Panti/KBK, GMA News