The late Juan Ponce Enrile’s daughter, Katrina, took to social media on Wednesday to appeal for historical accuracy when invoking her father’s name.
“I hope this will not be taken as a political statement, but rather as a daughter’s appeal for historical accuracy. Because when someone’s memory is repeatedly invoked in public discourse, accuracy becomes sacred,” she said in a Facebook post.
This comes after Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano’s heated exchange with Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Jonvic Remulla during Senator Jinggoy Estrada’s arrest.
Cayetano had cited a precedent involving former Senate President Jovito Salonga and Enrile, arguing that the former had “stood up” for the latter and he was simply asking Remulla to arrest Enrile outside the Senate premises.
In doing so, he said Enrile had been arrested for rebellion.
“Salonga stood up for Enrile. Ang kalaban si Cory, ang kaso rebellion. Anong ginawa? They walked out,” Cayetano said. “We’re just asking you to walk out... You can arrest him outside.”
Katrina Enrile pointed out that Cayetano’s statement was inaccurate and that verifying such information could be easily done.
“When it is said that my father was charged with rebellion, that is not entirely accurate. The records are neither ancient nor inaccessible,” Katrina said.
“My father was not charged with “rebellion.” He was charged with “rebellion complexed with murder”—a legal theory so fundamentally flawed that the Supreme Court ultimately rejected it as a non-existent crime under Philippine law,” she explained.
She said it was difficult to watch her father, now unable to respond to such remarks, be “reduced to abbreviated versions of events.”
Words matter. Legal distinctions matter. Truth matters.
Previously, Cayetano also claimed he had a close relationship with former Senator Enrile, claiming an Uncle-nephew bond between them.
“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,” Katrina Enrile responded.
