Juan Ponce Enrile
Juan "Manong/Manong Johnny" Ponce Enrile is a political figure in the Philippines. Originally a protege of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos he later became one of the leaders (along with then General Fidel V. Ramos) in the 1986 People Power Movement that drove President Ferdinand Marcos from power. Enrile has been the President of the Senate of the Philippines since November 2008.
Ponce Enrile was born as Juanito Furuganan in Gonzaga, Cagayan to Petra Furuganan, 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. 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.
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. In May 1987 he won election as one of two opposition members of the country’s 24-member Senate (the other was Joseph Estrada).
After opposition leader Sen. Benigno Aquino, Jr. was assassinated in 1983, Ponce Enrile became fearful for his safety. As the Marcos dictatorship became increasingly unpopular, he began aligning himself with dissident elements in the army, particularly the Reform the Armed Forces Movement (RAM). 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, 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 Movement.
In May 1987 he won 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 headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City. He was detained in house-type quarters in Camp Aguinaldo over suspicion of planning the coup with Gregorio Honasan. He was released days after for lack of evidence.
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.
Manong Johnny, as he is often called, (Manong is a Filipino affectionate term for an Older Brother)is married to Cristina Castañer, a 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 former general, with her wife Mara Enrile. Olivia Ponce Enrile-Tirona, is a jazz singer and daughter of Brenda Ponce Enrile Tirona.
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.
Other Information
- Born : February 14, 1924
- Birth place : Gonzaga, Cagayan
- Political party : Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (2001-present); Independent (1995-2001); Nacionalista (1965-1972; 1987-1995); KBL (1978-1986)
- Education : Ateneo de Manila University, University of the Philippines, Harvard University
- Spouse : Cristina Castañer
- Occupation : Civil servant
- Profession : Lawyer, Politician
- Religion : Roman Catholic
Links
- Pinoyvote Profiles
- Juan Ponce Enrile official site
- Juan Ponce Enrile Bio on Gov.ph
- Juan Ponce Enrile’s Assets and Liabilities
- Juan Ponce Enrile’s Official Philippine Senate biography
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