JPE bridges FM, BBM presidencies

We want him to be one of the best if not the best President that this country ever had.

Living legend would be an understatement to describe Presidential Chief Legal Counsel Juan “Johnny” Ponce Enrile, who is the iconic symbol of Filipino resilience.

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos puts full confidence in Enrile, who he called in one interview as being “like my uncle.”

Enrile was Ferdinand Marcos Sr. or FM’s secretary of finance in 1968, then his secretary of justice in 1970 and Defense Minister in 1972 until the EDSA Revolt in 1986 that deposed FM.

Incidentally, Enrile was among the main personalities in the uprising.

The young Marcos, nonetheless, said that he wanted Enrile by his side because of his brilliance.

“He is one of maybe the three best lawyers that I know in the Philippines,” according to the President.

“As a legal adviser, he certainly fits the bill,” Marcos said.

The primary mandate of his office will be to protect the President, according to Enrile.

“We will have to see to it that his name, his reputation and his position in history will not be damaged,” the President’s confidante said.

“We want him to be one of the best if not the best President that this country ever had,” Enrile indicated.

“The country is facing several problems, our elected leaders are also engulfed in these problems, not because they do not have the capability but they are also victims to what is happening in the world,” Enrile said.

The problems that the Marcos administration is not unique to the country but the whole planet is affected.

Legal wizard

Enrile’s legal savvy was useful to Marcos in firming up a position amid the debates over the Maharlika Investment Fund in which he took a pragmatic view that the proposal, although with good intentions, should be subjected to an intense assessment.

The veteran public servant, thus, is saying that Marcos should look at different factors contained in the bill.

“Whatever safeguards the legislation will provide, we can’t control economic loss. If a financial crisis hits one part of the world and the MIF investments become broad then we will get hit,” according to Enrile.

We will have to see to it that his name, his reputation and his position in history will not be damaged.

If a conflict starts in some part of the globe, then the nation will take a hit.

Enrile clarified that he is not against the proposed MIF but said that he wanted to make sure that the creation of a sovereign wealth fund would not harm the President’s reputation.

“I’m not against it, but I want to be sure that the President will not be historically damaged. That is my duty to him as his legal counsel,” he said.

Instead of creating a MIF, Enrile said it is “safer” to use funds from the national budget.

“Why not take funds for MIF from the general fund and let it be a responsibility of the government while tightening the directors’ authority,” he said.

Enrile said he trusts Marcos’ Cabinet picks but he doubted if he could give the same trust for officials of the next administrations.

Enrile said anyone involved in corrupt practices while managing the fund to “automatically” serve jail time at the maximum-security New Bilibid Prison.

JPE vs oligarchs

Very vivid in the mind of many was the interview last 20 September 2018 that then-Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos conducted with Enrile in which several misconceptions about the Marcos family and the Martial Law years were discussed.

Enrile said oligarchs and the landed gentry have schemed and conspired to frustrate the economic plans of the regime of President Ferdinand Marcos Sr.

“They controlled the economy. They controlled agriculture because they have haciendas. They control communication. They want to control even government,” Enrile indicated.

“You had to talk to interest groups to be able to run for public office in those days. They control the power utility. They control the media. They control the newspapers, the radio. Many facets of industries, even the industrialization of the country is controlled by the so-called oligarchs of the land,” he said.

His independent views always leaves a mark in the national psyche.

“EDSA wasn’t about abstract ideals like justice, freedom, democracy, and morality. A great deal of it was about money and power,” he said.

He indicated that many of the prominent figures at EDSA fully intended their material investments to produce profits.

Regarding the point in history called the EDSA Revolt in 1986, Enrile said there is no grudge against him from BBM despite his having a pivotal role in ousting his father Ferdinand Marcos Sr.

“I do not see any reason for him to betray me. The times are just too different for us to be able to say that he might do a repeat of what transpired in 1986. And also you see, it’s the time of his life (to leave a legacy),” Marcos said.

Marcos said he previously asked Enrile about his relationship with his father and is convinced that the actions the then defense secretary took, arose from his desire to defend the country.

“It didn’t seem to be an attack really on my father because I was privy to their conversations when he was in Camp Crame — I was holding my dad’s phone so I heard their conversations,” he said.