Enrile cautions Duterte on dealing with CPP

From Malaya (May 20): Enrile cautions Duterte on dealing with CPP

INCOMING president Rodrigo Duterte should act with caution in dealing with the Communist Party of the Philippines, Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile yesterday said.

Enrile, a defense minister in the Marcos administration, said there could be security implications in sharing a bed with the communists.

“They better study that very well. There are security implications, (and) I’m sure the incoming president is aware of the problem of coalescing with CPP,” Enrile said.

Duterte is offering four Cabinet posts to the communist group and is considering a general amnesty for detained leftists.

Asked if it is hard to trust CPP, Enrile said, “We have to act with caution.”

Enrile was one of the architects of martial law that was declared in 1972, supposedly to thwart communist invasion of the country. Ironically, the communists grew steadily after the imposition of martial law.

Martial law was declared in September 1972 while the New People’s Army, the military arm of the CPP, was about to enter its third year of existence.

Enrile conceded he is not in a position to advise Duterte.

“He has good advisers… at this point all I can say is that every government must act with caution,” he said.

Earlier, re-electionist Sen. Panfilo Lacson said CPP leaders should first take an oath of allegiance to the government and vow to protect the Constitution before they are entrusted with Cabinet posts.

He said ending the five-decade-old communist insurgency through a peace process would start with good faith and goodwill, such as the release of all political prisoners.

“Nevertheless, we must look at this move with guarded optimism,” Lacson said.

He said there might be some legal nuances that have to be considered before granting amnesty to prisoners identified with CPP.

“For one, most of the cases involving the political prisoners are pending with the different courts and therefore, under the jurisdiction of a co-equal branch of government which is the judiciary,” he said.

http://www.malaya.com.ph/business-news/news/enrile-cautions-duterte-dealing-cpp