Senate President Vicente 'Tito' Sotto III delivers his eulogy for former Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile during his necrological service on Wednesday, November 19. (Video courtesy of Senate of the Philippines)
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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
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