Juan Ponse Enrile

Juan "Manong/Manong Johnny/Johnny" Ponce Enrile (born February 14, 1924) is a Filipino politician. As a protege of President Ferdinand Marcos, he served as Justice Secretary and then Defense Secretary under the Marcos regime; he later became one of the leaders (along with General Fidel V. Ramos) in the 1986 People Power Movement that drove Marcos from power. Enrile has continued to be a prominent politician since then; he has been President of the Senate of the Philippines since November 2008.

Early Life and Career

Juan Ponce Enrile was born as Juanito Furagganan in Gonzaga, Cagayan to Petra Furagganan, the daughter of a poor fisherman. He was born out of wedlock—his father was the already married powerful regional politician and renowned lawyer Alfonso Ponce Enrile. He was reunited with his father by the time he reached his high school years.  He graduated cum laude in 1949 with an Associate of Arts degree at the Ateneo de Manila University. Thereafter, he attended the University of the Philippines College of Law and graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Laws degree. While in law school, he joined the Sigma Rho Fraternity. Upon graduation, he was elected to the prestigious Pi Gamma Mu and Phi Kappa Phi international honor societies. He achieved the 11th highest score with a 91.72% rating and a perfect score in Mercantile Law in the 1953 bar examinations. As a scholar at the Harvard Law School he earned a Master of Laws degree with specialized training in International Tax Law. He taught law at the Far Eastern University and practiced law in his father’s law firm before taking responsibility for then-senator Marcos’s personal legal affairs in 1964. After Marcos was elected president in 1965, Ponce Enrile became part of his inner circle. From 1966 to 1968, he was the Undersecretary and sometime Acting Secretary of the Department of Finance. He concurrently became acting Insurance Commissioner and Commissioner of the Bureau of Customs. From 1968 to 1970, he became Secretary of the Department of Justice.

Secretaty of Defense

In 1970, he was appointed Secretary of the Department of National Defense. He left his post in 1971 to run for a Senate seat. However, lost the race. Enrile was re-appointed as Defense Chief in 1972. One of Marcos' reasons for the declaration of martial law in 1972 was terrorism. He cited the alleged bombing attack of Secretary Ponce Enrile's car on September 21, 1972. In 1973, under the new modified parliamentary system then in place under the country's new Constitution, Ponce Enrile's title became Defense Minister. As Defense Minister, he presided over the Executive Committee of the National Security Council, making him one of the prime architects of Marcos' martial rule. As a requirement for his position as part of the cabinet under the parliamentary system, he ran and won as Assemblyman and represented Cagayan Valley for the Interim Batasang Pambansa in 1978.

After opposition leader Sen. Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino, Jr. was assassinated on August 21, 1983, Ponce Enrile knew that he had to breakaway. As the Marcos dictatorship became increasingly unpopular, he began aligning himself with dissident elements in the army, particularly the Reform the Armed Forces Movement - which was then headed by his Aide-de-camp, Lt. Col. Gregorio Honasan. Officers from this group, with Ponce Enrile' support, moved to launch a coup d’état against Marcos in February 1986. Marcos was alerted to the plot by then AFP Chief of Staff General Fabian Ver, and the conspirators took refuge in two military camps. From there, Ponce Enrile and Fidel Ramos, the head of the Philippine Constabulary (now the Philippine National Police), rallied opponents against Marcos in a citizen revolt that became known as the People Power Revolution. At the same time, Ponce Enrile revealed details of the public deception he had perpetuated while serving in Marcos’s government. This included being aware of fraudulent votes in the 1986 presidential election and faking an assassination attempt on his own life in 1972, which helped provide Marcos with the justification for declaring martial law. 

Juan Ponce Enrile thereafter emerged as one of the heroes of the People Power Movement, although the reasons for his involvement with the movement were highly disputed. In the post-martial law era, rumors and conjectures spread that Ramos and Ponce Enrile were among those involved with the assassination of Sen. Ninoy Aquino. It is alleged that in order not to be accused with the Marcoses, the two plotted a coup against the president.  He served as Secretary of National Defense under Corazon Aquino, who replaced Marcos as president, but Ponce Enrile increasingly differed with Aquino, specifically, on the administration's treatment of insurgent leftist opposition. As a result of their differences, he was forced to resign as Defense Secretary in November 1986.

Congressional Career - First Senate term

In May 1987 he won the election as one of two opposition members of the country’s 24-member Senate (the other was Joseph Estrada). In August 1987,a coup against Aquino escalated and led to the destruction of the Armed Forces General Headquarters (AFPGHQ) in Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City. He was detained in house-type quarters in Camp Aguinaldo over suspicion of planning the coup with Lt. Col. Gregorio Honasan. He was released days after for lack of evidence.

Member of the House of Representatives

In 1992, before his term in the Senate ended, Ponce Enrile predicted that he might lose the senatorial election or win but only serve three years in office. Under the transitory provisions of the 1987 Constitution, the first 12 candidates who receive the highest votes win a 6 year term, the next 12 would only serve 3 years. He ran instead as congressman. He was elected and represented the First District of Cagayan.

Second to fourth senate terms

In 1995, he threw his hat in the senatorial race as an independent candidate for senator and was also a guest candidate under the Lakas-Laban coalition. He won as senator and held the position until 2001. During his term as senator, he ran as an independent candidate in the 1998 election for the position of President. He lost however to then Vice President Joseph Estrada. On January 13, 2001 he was one of those who voted against the opening of the second bank envelope. That vote led to the second EDSA People Power Revolution that eventually ousted President Joseph Estrada. In May 2001, he was indicted by the military for the investigation of the unsuccessful siege of the Malacañang Palace by pro-Estrada forces. He was released a day after. He ran for reelection as part of the Puwersa ng Masa coalition. Due to the issues that haunted him during the failed siege, he lost the election. In the 2004 election, he made a comeback bid for the Senate under the Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino (KNP). He actively opposed the imposition of the Purchased Power Adjustment (PPA) on the consumer's electric bills. Due to his exposé on the PPA and the Supreme Court decision in favour of a refund on electric bills, the public responded positively and he won the election. He became one of the senators who won the position in three non-consecutive terms.

He is affiliated with the Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP). Technically he belongs to an opposition party, but at the Senate, he stands as independent and is part of the administration bloc. The minority bloc includes all of his party mates. Senate President Manuel Villar resigned due to lack of support in the Senate on November 17, 2008, and Enrile succeeded him on the same day. Enrile was nominated as President of the Senate by Panfilo Lacson; 14 senators supported the nomination and five of them abstained. Enrile was re-elected into a fourth term in the 2010 Senate election. On July 26, 2010, he was re-elected as President of the Senate.

Senate Presidency - Election

Backed by the support and trust of his peers in the chamber, Senator Enrile became the Senate President, replacing Senator Manuel Villar, Jr. on 17 November 2008. Enrile accepted the position, saying that “To lead the Senate with its great minds, strong advocacies, varying and independent political beliefs and leanings, is not an easy task. But it is precisely this variance in points of view and the battle of great ideas that provide the dynamism we need to craft legislation that takes into account and balances the competing interests involved – with the end in view of serving the greater good of the people to whom we owe our mandate.”

Legislation

Under his leadership, the Senate passed vital pieces of legislation such as the CARP Extension, Anti-Torture Act, Expanded Senior Citizens Act, Anti-Child Pornography Act, National Heritage Conservation Act, Real Estate Investment Act, among many others. Institutional reforms were also implemented within the Senate to improve the daily conduct of business by the institution, as well as improve the welfare of its officers and employees.

Maguindanao Martial law

Also under him, the Senate also collaborated with the House of Representatives on two crucial issues which are now considered historical milestones. First was in December 2009 to take up Proclamation No. 1959 of the previous administration, declaring a state of martial law and suspending the writ of habeas corpus in the province of Maguindanao, while the second occasion was in May 2010, when Congress convened to constitute itself as the national canvassing board to canvass the votes for president and vice president, and thereafter proclaim the winners.

Re-election as Senate President

Now on his fourth term in the Senate and after re-elected as its leader, Senate President Enrile's commitment is to “discharge my duties and responsibilities with honor, with total devotion to our institution, and with fairness to all members. No partisan consideration will blur or color the treatment of any member of the Senate. We are all Senators elected by the people to serve them with dedication to their interest and well-being and devotion to our responsibilities.” Furthermore, in his acceptance speech, he enjoined his colleagues to “uphold the independence and integrity of this Senate, without abandoning our duty to cooperate with the other departments of the government to achieve what is good for our people.”

Personal Iife

Manong Johnny, as he is often called, ("Manong" is an Ilocano affectionate term for an Older Brother) is married to Cristina Castañer, a blond Filipina of Spanish ancestry who in 2008 was named Philippine Ambassador to the Holy See. They have two children: Juan, Jr. and Katrina. Juan Ponce Enrile, Jr. is currently a congressman representing the 1st District of Cagayan. Katrina Ponce Enrile is the current CEO of Jaka Group, Ponce Enrile's company. The Jaka Group owns the Philippine Match Company, the Philippines' leading match maker. Arturo Ponce Enrile (1940–1998), a cousin, was a former Secretary of Department of Transportation and Communications and a former general. He was married to Mara Enrile. Olivia Ponce Enrile-Tirona, is a jazz singer and daughter of Brenda Ponce Enrile Tirona.

Views regarding those convicted on the Aquino assassination

On August 21, 2007, (Aquino’s 24th death anniversary), Juan Ponce Enrile stated that the case of the 14 soldiers incarcerated for 24 years now, due to the assassination of Benigno Aquino, Jr.should be reviewed for clemency. Ponce Enrile paid for the legal services of the soldiers during their trial, and said the soldiers and their family have suffered enough. Fifteen (15) soldiers of the Aviation Security Command were sentenced to double life imprisonment for the double murder of Aquino and his alleged lone communist gunman, Rolando Galman, and one of them has since died. They were all acquitted on December 1985, by the Sandiganbayan' Manuel Pamaran, but when the entire proceedings of that case were invalidated by the Supreme Court and the case brought again to trial, the Sandiganbayan's Regino C. Hermosisima, Jr., (promoted to Supreme Court Justice and incumbent 3 termer Judicial and Bar Council regular member) convicted them on September 28, 1990.

Source: wikipedia