SENATE HONORS ENRILE

THE 23-member Philippine Senate on Tuesday, November 26, 2024, adopted a resolution honoring former Senate president Juan Ponce Enrile (JPE) for his contributions and untiring service to the nation and the Filipino people.

Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero authored Senate Resolution 1223, which highlighted Enrile’s public service for almost six decades, which covered the terms of eight presidents of the republic.

The former Senate President, now chief presidential legal counsel, has been serving the country in various capacities for almost 60 years, using his legal expertise and vast knowledge in crafting important laws and helping ensure the government’s effective implementation of policies related to revenue generation, the economy, peace and order, national defense and social services.

“If we call him a saint, he would be the first to vigorously oppose it as his fidelity to truth will compel the decency in him to tone down that flattery. He does not need any as his life is an open public record woven into the annals of our country, but one thing is for sure–he will be kindly judged by history as the Senate is and doing today–because in the balance sheet of life, in the ledger of what is done a service trumps all,” Escudero said in his sponsorship speech on Tuesday at the plenary session.

“Our country Mr. President is better off because of a Juan Ponce Enrile. And today, I salute the man; I salute his achievements; I salute the friend that I have learned to respect and love in the many years I’ve served not only in this chamber but also in the House of Representatives,” Escudero added.

The 100-year-old Enrile served as finance secretary and acting chairman of the Monetary Board from 1966 to 1968 and then as justice secretary from 1968 to 1970.

From 1970 to 1986, Enrile was Marcos Sr.’s defense secretary; over the same period, he was a member of the Batasan Pambansa.

Enrile gained international recognition alongside then-Armed Forces vice chief of staff Fidel Ramos when they led the bloodless 1986 People Power Revolution.

In 1987, he was elected to the Senate, serving four terms and becoming its chief from November 2008 to June 2013.

During his Senate presidency, he presided over the historic impeachment trial of then-chief justice Renato Corona in 2012. He also served as a Representative of Cagayan from 1992 to 1995.

“In our archives are records of his words spoken, which are not faint echoes of the past, but powerful ideas that boom loud and clear, now and in the future. In our library are many laws that bear his name as the author, surpassed only in number by the laws purged of mistakes and polished to perfection by a first-rate mind he deployed in the service of the republic,” Escudero said.