Martial law architect Enrile gets Malacañang birthday bash, P100k cash gift

MANILA, Philippines — Juan Ponce Enrile, former martial law architect under dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr., marked his 100th birthday on Wednesday with a lavish Malacañang celebration attended by three current and former presidents — the kind of revelry that could only be enjoyed in a country where power shields its own. 

In his speech celebrating his centennial year, the chief presidential legal counsel turned emotional at the thought of serving two Marcoses in his lifetime and thanked the elder Marcos and First Lady Imelda Marcos "for what they did to make me what I am today,” 

“(The) happiest moment of my life was when I serve (sic) the first presidency of a Marcos President and the second time — now that I’m serving the son of that president, our President Bongbong Marcos,” Enrile said, according to a state news release.

During his birthday celebration at Malacañang, Enrile, who earns around P189,00 to P211,900 (Salary Grade 30) monthly as chief state counsel, was also handed a centenarian gift of P100,000 by the Department of Social Welfare and Development. 

This is part of the provisions of the Centenarians Act of 2016 that entitles Filipinos who reach 100 years old with a P100,000 cash incentive.

Attendees of Enrile’s birthday celebration, hosted by President Marcos Jr. himself, included former Presidents Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Joseph Estrada, former First Lady Imelda Romualdez, and other current and former officials, as well as Enrile’s family and friends.

The former defense secretary of Marcos Sr. — who later led the military mutiny that helped unseat him, and ultimately drive his family, including Marcos Jr., out of the country — is a “ pantheon of Philippine history,” the incumbent president said during Enrile’s birthday lunch.

Marcos only had praises for Enrile, saying that he received valuable advice from the seasoned politician that helped him decide to run as vice president in 2016 — a role Enrile continues to fulfill today as chief presidential legal counsel.

Prior to his current post, which he was appointed to at 98 years old in 2022, Enrile had served four terms in the Senate and became Senate president during the 15th Congress from 2008 to 2013. 

Of all the positions Enrile has assumed in his nearly six decades in office, however, he is best known for being the longtime defense chief and chief martial law implementor under the elder Marcos. 

It was the supposed ambush attack on Enrile in 1972 that was used to justify Marcos Sr.’s decision to declare martial law that same year. As defense secretary, Enrile carried out several of Marcos Sr.’s orders, which included widespread crackdowns on groups perceived to be allied with communist organizations. 

Decades later, Enrile claimed that the military had been “careful” in carrying out orders to arrest dissidents, taking exception with well-documented evidence compiled by human rights groups that thousands were killed and tortured under Marcos Sr.’s rule.

By 1986, Enrile and other longtime loyalists would withdraw their support for the elder Marcos to throw their weight behind a plot to unseat him. Enrile soon claimed that the attack on him years before was staged.

Enrile was later appointed defense secretary by his former principal’s rival and successor, the late Corazon Aquino, who assumed power after the iconic EDSA demonstrations that many believe ushered in a new era of democracy in the country. 

But the former Marcos loyalist heavily criticized Aquino for her approach toward curbing insurgency. He was later fired following the Aquino administration’s attempt to cleanse the government of those who helped plot a coup against her named “God saved the queen.”

Today, Marcos believes that Enrile’s storied political career allows him to be a “pond of sage advice.”

“I must admit, to have him in my corner allows me to sleep better at night,” Marcos said.