The family of former Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile on Friday expressed “sadness and disappointment” over recent remarks made by Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano regarding his supposed closeness to the late statesman.

In a statement released by Katrina Ponce Enrile, the family acknowledged the long-standing relationship between the Cayetano and Enrile families but stressed that genuine relationships are reflected through sincerity and presence, especially during moments of grief.

“The Cayetano and Enrile families have indeed known each other for many decades, and we do not deny the history and familiarity that existed between them,” the statement read.

“However, genuine relationships are not measured solely by words spoken publicly after a person has passed. They are measured by presence, sincerity, and the quiet acts of respect shown to a grieving family during moments of profound loss,” it added.

The statement came after Cayetano reportedly described his close ties with Enrile and said he once considered the former Senate President an “uncle.”

The Enrile family said they could not help but notice “who chose to be present — and who did not” during the necrological services held in the Senate and in the days surrounding Enrile’s passing.

“For this reason, recent public declarations of closeness, while noted, inevitably strike our family with a certain sadness and disappointment,” the family said.

The statement also emphasized that Enrile’s legacy and decades of public service should not be invoked only when “convenient, politically useful, or publicly advantageous.”

“Our father’s legacy, sacrifices, and decades of service to the nation should never be revisited only when convenient, politically useful, or publicly advantageous. He deserved sincerity in life, dignity in death, and peace in memory,” the statement read.

Despite their sentiments, the family said they would continue to uphold “grace and restraint,” values they said Enrile carried throughout his public life.

“We pray that all who invoke his name do so with honesty, consistency, and genuine respect,” the family added.

Then Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Juan Ponce Enrile passed away on November 13, 2025 at the age of 101.