Jonathan Frederic De Santos

Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Juan Ponce Enrile reviews documnets before the start of the sectoral meeting with President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. at the Malacañang Palace on Feb. 13, 2024. KJ Rosales, PPA Pool/File

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Carmelle Lacuata

ABS-CBN News

MANILA — Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Juan Ponce Enrile passed away Thursday at the age of 101.<div><a class="fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/11/13/juan-ponce-enrile-passes-away-1733">READ: Juan Ponce Enrile passes away</a></div>With over 30 years of experience as a lawmaker, Enrile was the oldest politician in the Philippines. Born in 1924, he was a witness to several historical events in the country, and has served in several administrations in different capacities. After a failed attempt at a Senate comeback in 2019, Enrile returned to government service three years later when he was appointed as chief presidential legal counsel by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the son of the dictator who he helped stay in power.<div> </div><div>RISE TO POWER: MARCOS SR.’S PROTEGE </div>Enrile had worked with Ferdinand Marcos Sr. since his election in 1965. Often considered the elder Marcos’ protege, Enrile served in different capacities under the Marcos Sr. administration.From 1966 to 1968, he was the commissioner of the Bureau of Customs, and was also the acting chairman of the Monetary Board of the Central Bank of the Philippines.Throughout Marcos Sr.’s 21-year regime, Enrile held different positions in different agencies, but he rose to prominence when he was appointed secretary of the Department of National Defense in 1970, a position he held until 1986. Enrile also played a very important role in the declaration of Martial Law, often credited as its administrator since he was in charge of the military as defense minister.One of the justifications used for the declaration was terrorism and the threat of communism, citing the alleged attack on Enrile on September 22, 1972. In 1986, Enrile and then Lt. Gen. Fidel Ramos admitted that the ambush was staged, but Enrile himself would later accuse his opponents of spreading rumors that the ambush was fake.In his 2012 memoir, Enrile claimed that it was his political enemies who circulated the “lie” about his ambush.“After the 1986 Edsa Revolution, my political enemies claimed that I faked my own ambush to justify the imposition of Martial Law. This is a lie that has gone around for far too long such that it has acquired acceptance as the &#x27;truth&#x27;,” he wrote in his memoir.“This accusation is ridiculous and preposterous. What would I have faked my ambush for? When it happened, the military operation to impose martial law was already going on. I had already delivered Proclamation No. 1081 and all the General Orders and Letters of Instructions to the military leaders. I had already ordered them to proceed with the military operation that carried out the orders of President Marcos to place the country under martial law,” he also said. He added that “martial law in the country was already an irreversible fact” whether he was ambushed or not.“So, what was the need for me to fake my own ambush?”<div> </div><div>EDSA REVOLUTION AND POST-MARTIAL LAW PERIOD </div>If Enrile was instrumental in Marcos Sr.’s rise to power, he also played a pivotal role in ending the Marcos regime. Along with the Reform the Armed Forces Movement (RAM), Enrile and other military officers planned to launch a coup d’ etat against Marcos, but the plan was discovered a day before it was supposed to happen. He then sought the help of Ramos, and the two withdrew their support for Marcos, instead supporting the People Power Revolution that saw Marcos and his family flying to exile in Hawaii on February 25, 1986.In a 2018 <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/09/23/18/edsa-uprising-was-meant-to-stop-military-junta-enrile-tells-bongbong">interview</a> with the strongman&#x27;s son and namesake, Ferdinand &quot;Bongbong&quot; Marcos Jr, Enrile said the People Power Revolution was meant to stop a military junta, and not to oust Marcos Sr.He also said those behind the junta wanted to execute him because he &quot;was a hindrance to their political objective.&quot;This statement was another contradiction to what he <a href="https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1986/02/22/extract-of-the-transcript-of-press-conference-defense-minister-juan-ponce-enrile-and-deputy-chief-of-staff-fidel-v-ramos-on-various-matters/">previously said in 1986</a>, that he resigned because he cannot serve the government anymore.When asked why he did not become the president after the People Power Revolution, Enrile said he did not intend to take over the country, even when Marcos Sr. “gave” him the government.“Your dad was giving me the government in the morning of Tuesday, February 25. He was asking me to ask Cory [Aquino] to postpone her oathtaking. I told him I’ll try,” he told Marcos Jr.“If the military will take over, I will involve the country in a possible civil war, because the election was just finished. There was a big block of votes that voted for Cory, there was a big block of votes that voted for your father…I’m sure that if I did and the military took over and I assumed power, I will have enemies inside my military organization also. There is a possibility that the two forces that fought in the elections will combine,” Enrile added.Enrile continued to serve as defense secretary during the term of Corazon Aquino, but was eventually forced to resign after he was tagged in the so-called “God Save The Queen” coup attempt, which involved members of RAM. After he was fired from his position in the Department of National Defense, Enrile retreated to local politics. In 1987, he ran and won a seat in the Senate, a position he held until 1992.Believing he would lose the elections if he ran for senator again, Enrile instead ran for representative of the First District of Cagayan, his home province. He was elected and served until 1995.<div> </div><div>RETURN TO THE SENATE</div>Enrile returned to the Senate in 1995, serving his second term until 2001. He was one of those who voted against opening the second bank envelope, an important piece of evidence in the impeachment trial of then president Joseph Estrada.This led to the second People Power Revolution that led to the ouster of Estrada. Enrile would be among those who continued their support for Estrada, which affected his popularity. He lost his bid for reelection in 2001.Enrile was able to return for his third term from 2004 to 2010, and for his fourth term from 2010 to 2016. He was the oldest senator of the 15th Congress at the age of 86 in 2010.While at the Senate, Enrile served as Senate president in 2008, replacing then senator Manny Villar. He continued to serve in the same position when he was reelected as senator in 2010.As the leader of the Senate, Enrile was credited for the passing of several important pieces of legislation, including the “<a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/09/21/18/neverforget-as-senate-president-enrile-signed-martial-law-victims-reparation-law">Human Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition Act of 2013</a>,&quot; a law that former President Benigno Aquino III signed on Feb. 25, 2013.The measure was signed on the day of the 27th commemoration of the EDSA People Power revolution, the movement which toppled the Marcos dictatorship.Despite this, Enrile would later deny the existence of human rights violations during martial law, claiming that “very few” of the dictator&#x27;s critics were arrested, and that they were detained for “criminal acts.”&quot;They claimed that we killed a lot of people. When I was interviewed by someone some time ago, I challenged her: name me one that we executed, we killed except [drug lord] Lim Seng,&quot; the 94-year-old former lawmaker said in the 2018 interview with Marcos Jr., which has been taken down from the latter’s Youtube channel.In 2019, Enrile, at 95, tried to serve his fifth term as senator. In an attempt to dispel talk that he was no longer fit to run for public office, he <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/10/17/18/enrile-hopes-to-live-until-110-shows-hes-fit-enough-for-fresh-senate-bid">personally filed his certificate of candidacy (COC)</a> at the Commission on Elections. He also <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/03/29/19/longevity-not-immortality-at-95-enrile-fights-for-last-political-comeback">went around the country to campaign</a>, but failed in his bid to return to the Senate. Despite this, he would sometimes be invited by then president Rodrigo Duterte during meetings, and would even give his advice on <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/05/17/21/enrile-tells-duterte-just-ignore-critics">how the country should handle its issues with China</a>.<div> </div><div>CONTROVERSIES</div>Aside from his role in the Marcos regime, Enrile faced different controversies, most notable of which is his implication in the pork barrel scam. In 2014, he was arrested with two other senators for allegedly receiving bribes as part of a massive corruption scandal.Citing Enrile&#x27;s &quot;fragile health&quot;, the Supreme Court granted him bail in 2015, allowing him to spend his twilight days at home.A special graft court dismissed the plunder, or massive corruption, charges against Enrile last year, and last month acquitted him of the remaining graft cases against him.Enrile was born on February 14, 1924 in Gonzaga, Cagayan. According to his memoir, Enrile was a widow&#x27;s son by a prominent married lawyer. He was born Juanito Furagganan and later took his father&#x27;s name and became a respected attorney himself. Enrile shared that he was an adult when he met his father due to the circumstances of his birth. He has fifteen siblings from his father’s other families, including <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/lifestyle/pageants-beauty-queens/2025/11/11/miss-universe-extends-sympathies-to-ph-vietnam-amid-typhoons-1517">late singer and actress Armida Siguion-Reyna</a>. As the country’s <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/2/14/enrile-at-100-quotes-from-ph-s-oldest-cabinet-official-1108">oldest Cabinet official</a>, Enrile was <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/01/29/24/enrile-turns-100-next-month-aware-of-memes-on-his-age-granddaughter">aware of all the memes about his age and “immortality”</a>, according to his granddaughter.“I am fortunate to have received from my Creator a longer time here on earth. That&#x27;s longevity, not immortality,” he said in 2019.

Chief Legal Counsel Juan Ponce Enrile passed away Thursday, Nov. 13, at the age of 101.

Chief Legal Counsel Juan Ponce Enrile passed away Thursday, Nov. 13, at the age of 101.

Juan Ponce Enrile, Martial Law architect and political survivor

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Juan Ponce Enrile, Martial Law architect and political survivor

Rose Carmelle Lacuata,

ABS-CBN News

Published November 14, 2025 05:51 PM PHT

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