Centennial Celebration: Filipino Statesman Juan Ponce Enrile Reaches Remarkable Milestone of 100 Years

Juan Valentin Ponce Enrile y Furagganan was born on February 14, 1924, and during his lifetime, he has seen everything in Philippine history from the Second World War to the Marcos regime during the Cold War to the term of a younger Marcos in the 21st century where he is currently serving as chief presidential legal counsel.

On Wednesday, the veteran Filipino statesman and politician who was sometimes called "Manong Johnny" (Old Man Johnny) celebrated his 100th birthday. But prior to that, he already became a legendary meme for outliving several old world leaders like Queen Elizabeth II, former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, and former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, as well as several worldwide trends, loveteams, relationships, and even marriages.

Bastard Son to Marcos Protege

Enrile was born as the love child of Cagayan lawmaker Alfonso Ponce Enrile and Petra Furagganan, the stepdaughter of a poor fisherman. He was also related to Filipino propagandist and independence figure Mariano Ponce.

Initially baptized in the Philippine Independent Church, he converted to Catholicism at the age of 20, and soon after, reunited with his father in Manila for further studies. It was also during this time that he took legal steps to change his name from Furagganan to Ponce Enrile.

He received his associate degree at the Ateneo de Manila University in 1949 and finished his law degree at the University of the Philippines College of Law. He then went to Harvard Law School as a scholar specializing in international tax law.

Upon returning to the Philippines, Enrile taught law at the Far Eastern University and worked for his father's law firm and then-senator Ferdinand Marcos Sr. since 1964, which brought him into the latter's inner circle.

During the older Marcos's presidency, he held several cabinet roles, including as attorney-general from 1968 to 1970. He then became Defense Secretary for the rest of the older Marcos's tenure until he defected alongside then-General Fidel Ramos during the 1986 People Power Revolution.

'Turncoat' Legislator

Corazon Aquino briefly reappointed Enrile as Defense Secretary but was forced to resign in November 1986 due to multiple misunderstandings and an alleged coup d'etat in which he was implicated.

He then won last during the 1987 election for the 24-seat Philippine senate. In his stint as senator, he was accused of being involved in another string of coups that plagued the Aquino administration, with Aquino herself calling him a "national turncoat" and a "great bystander" for his opportunistic attitude.

Enrile briefly served as a representative for the seat of the first district of Cagayan in the House of Representatives from 1992 to 1995, before returning to the Senate to serve non-consecutive terms - 1995-2001, 2004-2010, and 2010-2016.

Elder Statesman, Meme Legend

During his time as a legislator, Enrile witnessed several government issues and dramas, some of them involving him.

He decided to stand down in the 2016 elections that elected Rodrigo Duterte into the presidency but attempted - and failed - to return to the Senate in 2019.

When Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the son of Enrile's former boss, was elected in 2022, he was reappointed as a cabinet official as the younger Marcos's chief legal counsel.

At 100, he and his family believed that his memory remained sharp, purportedly better than octogenarian US President Joe Biden.

With many political and popular figures dying at both old and relatively young ages, many Filipinos on social media have poked fun at Enrile's longevity and alleged immortality, with some hilariously making memes of him having pet dinosaurs.

Recalling his younger days, Enrile told the Philippine Daily Inquirer that he lived "a very simple life," and his daughter Katrina said he insisted on having such as long as he was alive, even forgoing the PHP100,000 ($1,781.96) incentive for centenarians under the Philippine Centenarians Act.

"I knew what it is to be poor, to be a lowly person, to be abused; I used to be called a bastard," he said.

However, Enrile and 106-year-old indigenous tattoo artist Apo Whang-Od were invited to the Malacañang on Wednesday (Feb. 14) to attend an awarding ceremony to the centenarians, local media reported.

Former police general and senatorial colleague Panfilo Lacson also paid tribute to Enrile's personal achievement of making it to 100, wishing him a longer life.

"Presidential Legal Counsel, Secretary Juan Valentin Furagganan Ponce Enrile, better known as JPE - former Assemblyman, Minister of Defense, Senator, Congressman (representing the 1st District of Cagayan Province), Senate President, the first and only longest-serving and STILL breathing oldest public official on Planet Earth and probably the entire Universe - is celebrating his 100th birthday today," he wrote on X, formerly Twitter. "Happy birthday, Sir!"

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Philippines