Enrile laid to rest at Libingan ng mga Bayani

MANILA, Philippines — The country bade goodbye to former senator Juan Ponce Enrile who died last week at 101, as he was laid to rest at the Libingan ng mga Bayani yesterday.

Enrile was given full military honors and buried in a section reserved for presidents, Cabinet officials, national artists and national scientists.

Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro Jr. was the highest-ranking official at the burial, offering a final salute to a man who, for decades, remained a powerful figure in Philippine politics.

Family members and colleagues first attended a funeral Mass at the Santuario de San Antonio Church in Makati, where his casket was displayed, draped in white cloth.

At the Libingan, uniformed personnel carried his flag-covered casket, while Philippine Air Force personnel dropped flowers in tribute.

As his remains were lowered, a band played one of his favorite songs, “Usahay,” while guests tossed orange-colored flowers, his preferred bloom.

Former senator Gregorio Honasan also paid his respects.

Honasan served as Enrile’s top aide when they plotted a coup in February 1986 to topple the first Marcos administration and establish a military junta—a plan that leaked and helped trigger the EDSA People Power Revolution.

As justice secretary from 1968 to 1970 and defense minister from 1970 to 1986, Enrile played a crucial role in the establishment and maintenance of a decades-long dictatorship marked by widespread human rights violations.

His defection with Fidel V. Ramos in 1986 paved the way for the four-day civilian-led military uprising that restored democracy.

Enrile later served four Senate terms—including one as part of the two-member opposition.

He rose to Senate president from 2008 to 2013 before becoming a key figure in the pork barrel controversy.

The late government official was jailed three times—over a coup attempt against Aquino in 1989, a rebellion charge in 2001, and plunder accusations in 2014—but survived each case.

Days before his death, the Sandiganbayan cleared him of all 15 graft cases.

In the twilight of his life, his career came full circle: one Marcos launched him into public service as insurance commissioner, and another gave him his final post as chief presidential legal counsel.

In a Facebook post, President Marcos thanked Enrile for his service to the nation.

“On behalf of a grateful nation, and with deep sorrow, I extend my prayers and condolences to the family of Juan Ponce Enrile,” the President said after necrological services for the late Cabinet member at Malacañang.

“We mourn his passing, but we also give thanks for the long and meaningful life he lived in service to the Filipino people. Maraming salamat, Tito Johnny,” he added.

In his eulogy, Marcos described Enrile as “a man who devoted his entire being to the service of the Filipino.”

“We must always remember the benefits, the contributions that he made to the Filipinos, to the Philippines… I couldn’t say he was my friend, he was certainly my mentor... But overall, he was a Filipino in the purest and best sense of being a Filipino where every molecule of his being was devoted to the service of the Filipino people,” he said.

Enrile’s burial at the Libingan, however, did not sit well with human rights groups.

Two days before the interment, more than 70 groups—including the August Twenty-One Movement and the Samahan ng mga Ex-detainees Laban sa Detensyon at Aresto—condemned what they called a “historical distortion” meant to whitewash Enrile’s role during martial law.

“His sins against the Filipino nation and his legacy of impunity had inflicted an immeasurable damage to so many of our countrymen,” they said in a joint statement signed by over 80 individuals. “He never paid for these sins. Neither did he apologize for any of them.”

“Juan Ponce Enrile is not a hero. He never was, and he never will be,” they added.

Malacañang has yet to announce who will succeed Enrile as chief presidential legal counsel.