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Manila Bulletin devider Opinion devider JPE 101

JPE 101

Published Feb 20, 2025 01:12 am

MEDIUM RARE 

Jullie Y. Daza

It was 11:44 p.m. Valentine’s Day 2025. I was with my friend in his car on EDSA when I thought it was a good time — after dinner, before bedtime — to catch JPE and greet him on his 101st birthday.

Seconds before I could press “send” to Katrina Ponce Enrile, a digital portrait of her father, Juan Ponce Enrile, appeared overhead, from out of the blue. Apparently programmed for LED, the picture showed him in a thoughtful pose, considering the location was EDSA, the city’s longest, busiest highway. Serendipity!

Juan Ponce Enrile is one of only a few people I know who was born on Valentine’s Day. As noted in his book, “Juan Ponce Enrile: A Memoir,” he was born on Feb. 14, 1924. Destined for greatness, he has lived a life that has had its share of dramatic ups and downs — as a guerrilla, soldier, prisoner (of Japanese soldiers), salutatorian of his class in UP Law, defense lawyer (especially for “defenseless” reporters and editors), customs commissioner, minister of justice, senator, Senate president, “architect of martial law,” secretary of national defense, and chief presidential legal counsel to two Presidents Marcos.

Journalists of an earlier generation describe him as “legendary,” specially those he defended pro bono in court, picking them up from their newsroom, arguing their case in court, then returning them to their offices. In 1974, I was pregnant when I told him during a press conference how I was detained for six hours in Camp Crame by someone who didn’t like what I had written about a group of soldiers acting as security for a bevy of beauty contestants. There and then, Secretary Enrile issued an order: No journalist may be invited for interrogation unless the “invitation” was signed by JPE.

At the end of his book, published in 2012, when he was 88, JPE wrote: “To have been able to serve my country through all these decades of trials and uncertainty, and to have enjoyed the sweet and simple joys of a long and productive life is the best reward of all.”

As his faithful friend and bodyguard Gringo Honasan puts it, JPE deserves the gift of peace of mind that is his due, for serving his country and people with his whole body, mind, and spirit. 

Mabuhay, JPE!

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