Senate President Vicente Sotto III yesterday led the necrological services for former Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile at the Senate session hall.
Former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and several current and former senators attended the memorial rites to pay their respects to the late Senate leader who was accompanied by his daughter, Katrina.
“He was a man who knew the cost of being a public servant; its impossible choices, its burdens, and its loneliness,” said Sotto.
Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson recalled being mentored by Enrile during the 2001 midterm elections and credited him for the foundation of his legislative work.
Lacson noted that Enrile’s care for Senate employees demonstrated his commitment to fairness and loyalty beyond political ambitions.
“A man who donned more titles than anyone, and one who remained a public servant until his very last breath,” he said, describing Enrile’s legacy in office.
For Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri, Enrile was a mentor he described as one of the country’s greatest legislators.
“He felt like a father to me in the Senate, and to this day, I continue to live by the lessons he taught me as a legislator and public servant,” the senator said.
Senator Erwin Tulfo praised Enrile for his discipline, intellect, and dedication to public service, recalling personal guidance he received shortly before Enrile’s passing.
Tulfo described Enrile’s legacy as both vast and enduring, shaping institutions and influencing generations of public servants.
“I was always grateful… that someone of his stature appreciated my work, and that his silence, often mistaken for severity, could also mean approval. His confidence strengthened my resolve to serve with integrity,” he said.
Senator Jinggoy Estrada called Enrile a towering political figure, loyal friend, and family member who supported his father, former President Joseph Estrada, during political crises.
“Beyond the memes that attempted to parody the long, storied life of one of the most consequential political figures in recent history is a man who was, in truth, larger than life,” said Estrada.
Meanwhile, Senator JV Ejercito said it was an honor to serve alongside Enrile and praised his lifelong dedication to the Filipino people.
The necrological service brought together colleagues, friends, and family to honor Enrile’s contributions, marking the end of an era in Philippine politics.
His colleagues affirmed that while he is gone from public view, his influence, mentorship, and example will endure across generations of lawmakers.
Meanwhile, a group of human rights lawyers expressed opposition to the possible burial of former Presidential Legal Counsel Juan Ponce Enrile at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.
In a statement on Tuesday, the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) opposed the hero’s burial describing it as “grave distortion of history”.
“What is being revived now is the same project of historical rehabilitation. This burial will not be a simple act of protocol but an effort to confer honor on a former Defense Minister whose role in the machinery of martial rule cannot be separated from its atrocities, repression, and plunder,” the NUPL said. With Pot Chavez
