The family of former Senate president Juan Ponce Enrile, who also served as chief presidential legal counsel under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., said the late statesman’s legacy and decades of public service should not be invoked only when “convenient” or “politically useful.”

In a statement posted on Facebook by Enrile’s daughter, Cagayan Economic Zone Authority Administrator Katrina Ponce Enrile, the family expressed disappointment over recent public declarations regarding closeness to Enrile following his passing.

“Our father’s legacy, sacrifices, and decades of service to the nation should never be revisited only when convenient, politically useful, or publicly advantageous,” the family said.

“He deserved sincerity in life, dignity in death, and peace in memory,” it added.

The statement referred to recent remarks made by Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano regarding his relationship with Enrile.

Cayetano earlier said he considered Enrile an “Uncle” because he had grown up around the veteran politician.

“I call my blood uncles ‘Uncle’. The only people I call ‘Uncle’ who aren’t related to me are two people — and one of them is JPE because I grew up with him,” Cayetano said.

The Enriles acknowledged that the Cayetano and Enrile families had known each other for decades but stressed that genuine relationships are measured through sincerity and presence, especially during periods of grief.

“We do not deny the history and familiarity that existed between them (Cayetano and Enrile families),” the statement read.

“However, genuine relationships are not measured solely by words spoken publicly after a person has passed,” it added.

The family also noted who had been present during the necrological services and the difficult days surrounding Enrile’s passing.

“During the necrological services held in the Senate and throughout the difficult days surrounding our father’s passing, our family could not help but notice who chose to be present — and who did not,” the statement said.

“For this reason, recent public declarations of closeness, while noted, inevitably strike our family with a certain sadness and disappointment,” it added.

Despite their disappointment, the Enrile family said they would continue to uphold the values of “grace and restraint” that Enrile carried throughout his public life.

“We pray that all who invoke his name do so with honesty, consistency, and genuine respect,” the statement read.