The Humble Beginnings of Juan Ponce Enrile
A famous Politician of the Republic of the Philippines, never been a President but I considered him as the backbone of the Philippine Government. His works will connect all the Presidents of the Republic from Ferdinand Marcos down to Benigno S. Aquino the 3rd and the Present Philippine President His Excellency President Rodrigo R. Duterte. The narrative writing of Nelson A. Navarro excites my political reading habits as to how the writer presented the humble life of the senator since his childhood in Cagayan Province North of Luzon. February 14, 1924 Juan was born in the town of Gonzaga. The simple life of Juan started with his father whose fishing livelihood is enough to feed the family for the week. Other leisure activities that rich kids are having are not in the life path of Juan. According to Juan he is a “Love Child” by birth in which as a reader I conceived that his birth status makes him more eager to struggle the path of a famous politician.
Many people I’ve known patterns the life of Juan that I always see it as an example despite of the many odds in life that sometimes society seem not to accept their family status. Juan’s mother Petra Furagganan nurtured the young senator towards the life of the politician. His father Alfonso Ponce Enrile is also a politician in their province but his father’s dream to dominate their family name in the political arena of their province was not successful. His father Damaso Ponce is from the family of the Ponce clan in Baliuag.
Their relative Mariano Ponce is known to the history as a writer during the Spanish time with Dr. Jose Protacio Rizal. Their educational influence with the Spanish migrants before molded the young senator’s love of education and the search for academic excellence. The grandmother of Juan is a full blooded Spanish (Espanola) were beauty and brilliance collided. His father Alfonso is one of the chosen academics who were sent in United States to study law. When his father came back to the Philippines he did not pursue his political ambition in their province but rather his father went to Manila the capital of the Philippines to practice his expertise in legal profession with his American friends Dewitt and Perkins. His father now is a member of the famous law firm in Manila the Dewitt, Perkins & Ponce Enrile Associates.
By this time Juan has the chance to browse some of the delicate legal archives of the republic since the law firm is famous in the country. The dockets of Palawan case, the attempt of the European to take control of Palawan, and the claim of the Sultan of Sulu over Sabah (North of Borneo now a disputed part of Malaysia) are the readings of the young Juan when he enlighten himself towards his career in politics in Manila. As a fan and a reader of his memoir one blog is not enough to portray the life of the famous senator of the country. In my next blog for Senator Juan I will start my blog when Juan is growing up in Cagayan. (Chapter 2 page 17 “Growing Up”). What I like the most in the introductory part of the narrative memoir of Navarro is the life encouragement of the senator that our past will not define our future. We need to work for our Future…..
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