Jack on shooting incident: It’s not deja vu

DAVAO Oriental, Philippines – Cagayan Rep. Jack Enrile sees no similarity between the the police car in his convoy in Compostela Valley the other day being shot at and the reported ambush of his father, then Defense Secretary Juan Ponce Enrile, in Metro Manila in 1972.

That ambush led to the declaration of martial law in September 1972. Enrile had admitted in 1986, after the February people power revolution, that the ambush was staged.

However, in his biography published late last year, he said that the ambush was real.  

The United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) senatorial candidate said in September 1972, his father’s car was peppered with bullets; last Tuesday, a single bullet struck the front door of the police car, not the car he was riding.  

“There is no conspiracy theory here,” he said. “It’s not deja vu.” 

Police believe the attackers are members of the New People’s Army, he added. Enrile said he had not received any death threat prior to the incident, and it looked like the police were the target of the shooting.            

Enrile said he did not request for a police escort in Compostela Valley.            

“We cannot prevent them from doing so and tell not to come with me,” he said.              

Enrile said he has no plans of beefing up his security or changing the security system that he is using for his campaign. “We believe that that is an isolated incident and that we’re not the real target.”             

Enrile said he was not carrying a gun and he is not wearing a bulletproof vest. “What you see is bulletproof fat, not a bulletproof vest,” he joked. 

UNA senatorial candidate Nancy Binay said they will not be changing anything pertaining to their security.            

“We are taking precautions, same security,” she said.                       

Enrile said the UNA senatorial candidates will be dividing themselves into three groups of three candidates each.            

He said his father can no longer join the UNA sorties in the provinces because of age and poor eyesight, but he may join sorties in Metro Manila, such as the proclamation rally of former President Joseph Estrada as mayoralty candidate in Manila.