Juan Ponce Enrile, the chief presidential legal counsel, is now in an intensive care unit suffering from pneumonia and has ‘slim chances of surviving,’ Sen. Jinggoy Estrada announced on the Senate floor on Tuesday.
‘I have just received very, very sad information that our former colleague, former Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, is currenty in the intensive care unit of an undisclosed hospital suffering from pneumonia,’ Estrada said.
‘And I heard from a reliable source, very, very reliable source that he has slim chances of surviving,’ he added.
On Estrada’s request, Sen. Joel Villanueva led a prayer for Enrile, who turned 101 years old last February.
‘At this moment, we humbly pray and lift up to You the life of our colleague, mentor, Senate President, fellow public servant, who has dedicated his life in service to our countrymen – Senator Juan Ponce Enrile,’ Villanueva said in Filipino.
Political career since 1987
Enrile was first elected to the Senate in 1987 and served as the lone minority until 1992, the same year he became a member of the House of Representatives until 1995.
After one term in the House, he ran again and won a Senate seat from 1995 to 2001.
He became Senate president in November 2008 until he resigned in June 2013 following his public spat with some of his colleagues over an alleged additional budget and ‘Christmas bonus’ given only to his allies.
Enrile was appointed to his current post shortly after Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. assumed the presidency in 2022.
Before joining politics in 1987, Enrile served as defense minister during the administration of Marcos’ father and namesake, then President Ferdinand Marcos Sr.
He gained prominence when he later withdrew his support from Marcos Sr. and became one of the key figures in the 1986 Edsa People Power revolution.