Juan Ponce Enrile

Biography

Juan Furagganan Ponce Enrile Sr., (né Juanito Furagganan; February 14, 1924 – November 13, 2025), also referred to by his initials JPE, was a Filipino politician and lawyer, who served as 26th President of the Senate of the Philippines from 2008 to 2013. Enrile was one of the longest-serving Filipino politicians in history, and one of the few to reach the age of 100. He was known for his role in the administration of Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos; his role in the failed coup that helped hasten the 1986 People Power Revolution and the ouster of Marcos; and his tenure in the Philippine legislature in the years after the revolution. Enrile served four terms in the Senate, in a total of twenty-two years and three-hundred twenty days, one of the longest-tenures in the history of the upper chamber. In 2022, at the age of 98, he returned to government office as the Chief Presidential Legal Counsel in the administration of President Bongbong Marcos, serving until his death in 2025.

Enrile was a protégé of President Ferdinand Marcos who served as Justice Secretary and Defense Minister during the Marcos administration. Enrile played a key role in the planning and documentary legwork for martial law, and was in charge of the Philippine Military during its implementation. His other roles during this period included Presidency of the Philippine Coconut Authority through which he gained control of the copra industry together with Danding Cojuangco, and being the general put in charge of logging in the Philippines under martial law—a period during which lumber exports were so extensive that the forest cover of the Philippines shrank until only 8% remained. By the 1980s, however, rising factionalism in the Marcos administration led to a reduction in Enrile's influence within the administration.

Enrile and the Reform the Armed Forces Movement organized a plot to overthrow Marcos in February 1986, but they were discovered. Deciding to stage a last stand in Camp Aguinaldo, Enrile sought support from other units of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and received it from Philippine Constabulary General Fidel Ramos in nearby Camp Crame, who joined Enrile in withdrawing support for Marcos in February 1986. Marcos moved to put down the dissenters in Camps Aguinaldo and Crame, but civilians who were already preparing mass protests in response to electoral fraud during the 1986 Philippine presidential election went en masse to Epifanio de los Santos Avenue near Enrile and Ramos's forces, and prevented Marcos from assaulting the coup organizers. This mass movement of citizens to protect Enrile and Ramos was one of the key moments of the 1986 People Power Revolution which drove Marcos out of power and into exile. After 1986, Enrile continued on as a politician. He was the Senate President from November 2008 until his resignation on June 5, 2013. He remained a Senator until 2016 and served as Minority Leader.