Pasay city: Senate President Vicente Sotto III and senior legislators led the chamber on Wednesday in paying tribute to former Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, honoring the statesman’s six decades of public service during necrological rites in Pasay City. Sotto, who presided over the ceremony, described Enrile as a formidable figure whose decisions shaped pivotal moments in national history.
According to Philippines News Agency, Sotto said, “He is a force to reckon with whenever it was that he inhabited in the silence of his room, the logic of his choices, and later the public clamor.” He added that Enrile’s place in history “will take time to steady,” but the chamber is certain of one thing: “We love you, alam naming happy ka (we know that you are happy).”
Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson, who regarded Enrile as both mentor and colleague, said the late lawmaker’s imprint on the nation cannot be overstated. “Manong Johnny did not simply pass through history. He walked alongside it,” Lacson said. He recalled nominating Enrile as Senate President in 2008, witnessing his well-known fairness during the impeachment trial of former Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona, and seeing firsthand his deep concern for Senate employees.
Lacson also recounted how, as a neophyte senator in 2001, he inherited Enrile’s legislative staff – “built on trust,” he said – many of whom remain with him 25 years later. Sen. Erwin Tulfo remembered Enrile as a statesman whose counsel shaped his own approach to public service. Tulfo shared that he visited Enrile just a month before his passing to seek guidance on how to serve with “conviction and humility.” “His advice, delivered without flourish, was grounded in preparation, discipline, and fidelity to duty,” Tulfo said.
He added that Enrile’s quiet approval during Cabinet deliberations gave him the confidence to pursue reforms when he served as Social Welfare Secretary. Sen. Jinggoy Estrada detailed how Enrile stayed by their side through politically difficult moments – from Joseph Estrada’s arrest in 2001 to the senator’s own detention. “That was Manong Johnny-a true and faithful friend indeed,” he said.
Estrada also highlighted the simplicity behind Enrile’s larger-than-life public persona, from his preference for fish and vegetables to his enjoyment of the game “Bejeweled” even amid Senate tensions. “To me, Manong Johnny is and will always be family. Gone from our sight, but never from our hearts,” he said.
In her eulogy, Pampanga 2nd District Rep. and former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo described Enrile as “one of the awe-inspiring political figures of the time,” someone whose brilliance and political skill made him “sometimes intimidating but always respected.” She said his long life, marked by duty, intellect, and resilience, made him “a legend in his own lifetime.”
In her response, Enrile’s daughter Katrina, thanked the chamber for honoring not only her father’s titles but the deeper principles he lived by. She said the Senate proved her father right-that despite political divisions, the institution could remain a place of respect, counsel, and shared duty to the nation. “When senators knocked on his door, whether from the majority or the minority, those distinctions dissolved. What mattered was your love for the Philippines,” she said.
“His door is closed now, but what it represented cannot be closed, not if the Senate he loved is to remain what he believed it could be,” she added. Enrile, who passed away while serving as Presidential Legal Counsel to President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., spent 23 years in the Senate and previously held key posts in government, including Defense Minister and Justice Secretary. The Senate earlier adopted Resolution No. 176 expressing profound condolences on his passing.
