Former Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Juan Ponce Enrile was buried with full honors at the Libingan ng mga Bayani in Taguig City on Saturday, drawing both praise and criticism.
Escorted by the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Enrile’s flag-draped casket received full military honors, followed by a funeral march from the heroes’ gate to his gravesite. A final benediction was led by Rev. Fr. Cherish Chester Serana, attended by family, friends, supporters, and government officials including Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr., Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa, former Senator Gringo Honasan, and former Information Secretary Ivan Uy.
Some groups, including the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers, criticized the burial, calling Enrile’s designation as a hero a “grave distortion of history” due to his role in implementing martial law under former President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. They said the cemetery should honor those who upheld democracy, not figures tied to systematic abuses.
Enrile later withdrew support for Marcos Sr., becoming a key figure in the 1986 People Power Revolution that forced the Marcoses into exile.
