Sir, when we both ran for the Senate in the May 2001 midterm elections, you as a veteran legislator and I as a neophyte politician, (you) mentored me on the art of campaigning. Unfortunately, the mentor lost, and ironically, the mentored won.
After the election, you asked me, sabi mo sa akin, “Ping, kunin mo ang aking legislative staff. Magagaling yan.” Of course I did. So in my first term as senator, my office was not built from scratch. It was built on trust. Twenty five years later, they are still with me.
When you became our Senate President in the 14th Congress and I observed how you cared for the Senate employees, that’s when I realized you were actually campaigning for your former legislative staff as you did not want them to lose their jobs. But you were right, Sir. They were really good. Otherwise they would not have lasted this long in my office.
Juan Valentin Furagganan Ponce Enrile, JPE, as we have long called him: former Assemblyman, Minister of Defense, Secretary of Justice, Secretary of Finance, Congressman, Senator, Senate President, Presidential Legal Counsel. A man who donned more titles than anyone, and one who remained a public servant until his very last breath.
Some would say that JPE walked through history. I say they are wrong.
Manong Johnny did not simply pass through history. He walked alongside it, making sure that he stood at its center, witnessing every halt and turn, leaving a mark in every stride.
But even in his many stories, no one can trivialize or exaggerate who JPE was – no historian, no colleague, no friend.
He was more than his career, which spanned seven or eight presidents. He was more than his many depictions as a hero or heel, friend or foe. He was more than his place in the annals of history: from being at the heights of power to the lowest caste. He was more than the river boy from Cagayan, the political powerhouse, a looming figure in our society.
He was the sum of all our stories as a nation.
I vividly remember, as if it were only yesterday, back in the 14th Congress, I had the privilege of standing in this very hall to nominate JPE as the new Senate President, after then-Senate President Manuel Villar Jr. resigned from the post.
With 14 senators supporting the nomination, he formally took his oath as the 21st Senate President of the Republic of the Philippines, taking helm of the institution he helped build from the foundations of democracy.
The walls of this chamber would remember the weight of his gavel, his legal acumen and mental acuity, most importantly his ‘unmistakable quality of fairness’ as the media would describe, in presiding over the impeachment trial of the late Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Renato Corona.
Nasisigurado ko rin pong walang kawani ng Senado, na nakaranas maglingkod sa ilalim ng inyong liderato ang hindi sasang-ayon sa tunay na pagkilala at pagtataguyod ni Senate President Enrile sa karapatan ng mga ordinaryong manggagawa.
JPE will not be lost to memory; that much is certain. As we close his long, often nuanced story, there is a sense that the nation has turned a page, entering a new era.
May this dawn be more than just a marker, but a moment of national introspection. May JPE challenge us to finally distill the enduring lessons from the vast, winding story he leaves behind.
Thank you, Sir.
*****