00:00The Senate President, Honorable Vicente Soto III, will now deliver his eulogy.
00:06This day, we not only mourn, but celebrate the life and accomplishments of Manojani.
00:30He leaves behind a legacy that not only reverberates and echoes through these walls, but throughout our nation.
00:45On behalf of the Philippine Senate and on behalf of my own family,
00:50I convey our sincerest and deepest sympathies and condolences to the family of the Juan Ponce Envile of Philippine history and politics and law.
01:05He once walked on this very floor as a senator, proposed legislation, investigated persons, heard testimonies where he debated crucial points, played crucial roles.
01:26He likewise climbed that center chair as president of this chamber, presided over an impeachment trial,
01:42clashed words with fellow senators, shook hands with confirmed appointments of the president's cabinet,
01:52including the cabinet of President Gloria McApagallaroy.
01:57He was one of us, among many other offices that he held with distinction.
02:08As Shakespeare said in Julius Caesar,
02:13he was a friend, faithful and just to me.
02:18More than that, he was a man who knew the cost of being a public servant.
02:27Its impossible choices, its burdens, and frankly, its loneliness.
02:36However, he still chose to serve for six decades.
02:42Juan Ponce Envile's public service record covers eight presidencies, as mentioned,
02:51from Ferdinand Edralin Marcos in 1968 to Ferdinand Romualde Marcos in 2025.
02:59It was a rollercoaster ride in tandem with the history of the Philippines with high and low points,
03:10with choices and chances taken,
03:13and through it all, reaching the finish line in the ripe age of 103.
03:20We met around the mid-70s when he was Minister of National Defense
03:34through my best friend and bowling buddy, Armando Ponce Envile, his youngest brother.
03:42He was a dear friend, Paring Toti, who introduced me,
03:51who incidentally went ahead of him a few days ago.
03:56And I now recall why Katrina and I were talking just a few days ago
04:00while Manojani was in the ICU, and it's because of Toti, Paring Toti.
04:06So when Manojani goes to the other side, he would be surprised to see Paring Toti waiting for him,
04:13the youngest brother, because Katrina never told him that Toti went ahead.
04:21Malamang sasabihin ni Panojani,
04:24anong ginagawa mo rito na ula kapasakit.
04:26I had the good fortune of being a senator myself when he was,
04:36and being a fledgling senator that I was in 1992.
04:40I easily gravitated around the wise and fatherly figure whom I fondly call Manojani,
04:49together with my old senator friends in the night congress who are here present with us.
05:03He was a force to reckon with.
05:06Wherever it was that he inhabited,
05:11in the silence of his room, the logic of his choices,
05:15and later the public clamor.
05:19His place in history
05:20perhaps will take time to steady
05:25till the pendulum of judgment
05:28by historians and the people settled to its final repose.
05:35He had personal, official, and legal battle.
05:40In his book, he confesses,
05:45I hope,
05:47I have no intention to look good at the expense of others
05:52or to settle old scores with anyone.
05:56Of my personal battles,
05:59I won some and lost some.
06:03My survival over the vicissitudes of life,
06:06over injustice, cruelty,
06:10and my successes,
06:12great or small,
06:14I can only attribute to God and guts.
06:18End of quote.
06:21Palang Manojani,
06:23our different,
06:24my different,
06:26JPE,
06:27my president,
06:30we love you.
06:37Alam Namin,
06:38Hapika.
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