Monday, January 7, 2013

Enrile files P31-M damage suit vs ad veteran


By Carmela Fonbuena 
Rappler
MANILA, Philippines – Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile has filed a P31-M damage suit against veteran advertising executive and Philippine Star columnist Yolanda Villanueva-Ong for a supposedly libelous article that he claimed “besmirched” his reputation and caused him “mental anguish, serious anxiety, wounded feelings, moral shock, and social humiliation.”
Enrile was offended by Ong’s October 16, 2012 column “Like father, like son,” which he said had “malicious objective.”
“The article characterizes JPE [Enrile] as liar, fraud, and manipulator. It accuses JPE of attempting to “revise history” with a devious purpose of enticing the electorate to support his only son, Juan Castañer Ponce Enrile, Jr (popularly known as Jack Enrile), an incumbent congressman in the province of Cagayan and a candidate in the upcoming senatorial elections,” according to Enrile’s complaint.
Ong’s column exposed inconsistencies in claims Enrile made in his book Juan Ponce Enrile: A memoir. Ong cited various accounts of how Enrile admitted after the 1986 “People Power” revolution that the assassination attempt against him – which was one of the reasons used to justify martial law – was staged. He recants this in his book.
The column moves on to discuss the senatorial bid of his son and namesake Cagayan Rep Juan “Jack” Ponce Enrile Jr. She cited the “intrigues” involving Jack – the “urban legend” that he killed the late actor Alfie Anido and the Enriles’ supposed involvement in smuggling in Cagayan.
“Defendant Yoly, instead of giving fair comments on JPE as a public official, deliberately focuses on attacking his character with false and defamatory accusations and intrigues affecting his family and personal life,” the complaint added.
Enrile asked the court for P30 million in moral damages, P1 million in exemplary damages, and P500,000 in attorney’s fees.
The civil case was filed before Branch 118 of the Pasay City Regional Trial Court.
Ong’s old anti-Enrile ads
Ong is the managing director of one of the country’s leading advertising agencies Campaigns and Grey. The agency produces political advertisements for high-profile politicians, among others.
Ong has her own political advocacies. In 2010, she volunteered her services to the campaign team of President Benigno Aquino III.
In 2001, she was recognized for producing negative advertisements against re-electionist senators who were perceived to be protecting President Joseph Estrada during his impeachment trial then. They voted against the opening of an envelope that supposedly contained crucial evidence against Estrada.
Enrile was among those senators. Ong used old footage of Enrile’s involvement in the martial law regime and allegations that he plotted coups against the late President Corazon Aquino. At the end of the ad, this slogan was added: “Ibabalik pa ba natin siya?”
Enrile lost in that elections. But he would return to the Senate in 2004.
Ong: ‘I spoke the truth’
Ong stood by her column
“Initially I was unnerved because this this is the first time I was ever sued for anything. But after reflecting [...]
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Did Jack Enrile kill Alfie Anido?

By Ira Pedrasa
ABS-CBNnews.com
Posted at 10/01/2012 1:50 PM | Updated as of 10/03/2012 6:50 PM

Enriles try to bury Alfie Anido case

Alfie Anido
MANILA, Philippines – In the “Johnny” documentary shown over ABS-CBN on the life of Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, his son and namesake admitted he was never close to his father growing up.
Cagayan 1st District Rep. Juan “Jack” Ponce Enrile Jr. remembered he only watched a movie twice with his father during his childhood years.
In fact, Jack had to bear the brunt carrying the name “Enrile” as his father’s reputation was also going down alongside that of the Marcoses during the anarchic years of Martial Law.
In that documentary, Jack remembers being beaten up and bullied by older boys in grade school simply because he was an Enrile. He went home with his uniform bloodied and his lips needing several stitches.
The effect of the name was never lost on young Jack. Towards the latter part of Martial Law, which also saw the falling out of then President Ferdinand Marcos with his then Defense Minister, Jack said he would again be unwittingly placed on the spotlight.
In his book “Juan Ponce Enrile: A Memoir”, the Senate President recalled: “The intrigues against me escalated. Even my children were not spared. For instance, when Alfie Anido killed himself in his home, my enemies in the Marcos regime spread the rumor that my son Jack shot and killed him.”
That angle was the Enriles’ own version. Up until now, the Alfie Anido case remains an urban legend deserving of a scandalous footnote on books regarding Martial Law.
The actor
Alfie Anido became popular in the 1970s as a matinee idol who appeared in iconic movies such as Temptation Island and Katorse.
The flourishing career of Anido, tagged as one of the most handsome in the Filipino entertainment industry, ended in December 30, 1981, when he reportedly shot himself dead in his home in Bel-Air, Makati.
Showbiz online sites and movie fanatics remember until now that it was a mysterious death, considering he was well-loved by many women and fans. He was then seeing Katrina Enrile, who allegedly was the one so in love with him.
In his book, Enrile said Anido hurt his daughter during a jealous fit on the day of his birthday, December 30, 1981.
The young actor and Katrina were in Antipolo, Rizal for the celebration. Before his guests could arrive, however, Anido was already drinking heavily and fell asleep.
Katrina was forced to entertain the guests whom she did not know. A jealous Anido supposedly misconstrued the situation.
Later in the car back home to Makati, the couple had a big fight. There, Enrile said: “Alfie physically hit Katrina, and my daughter fought back.”
The fight continued until later in the day. Katrina tried calling Anido via telephone, only to be informed later of news that he “killed” himself.

Attack dogs
“After Katrina returned the following morning from Loyola Memorial Funeral Parlor to the house of Alfie, his father asked Katrina why there were two sets of investigators-one from the National Bureau of Investigation and the other from Malacanang,” Enrile said.
In the documentary, Katrina also questioned why Malacañang still sent a different set of investigators when authorities already ruled from the very beginning it was an apparent suicide.

Jack’s version
Jack recalled answering to his younger sister’s distress call. In the documentary, he said he only tagged along with his father’s then chief security aide, Gringo Honasan, to go to Bel-Air.
Upon arriving, Jack noticed the place was really quiet. “The door was open, the lights were open. As I entered the property, I could hear a faint scream. As I was getting closer, the screams were getting louder. Katrina was wailing.”
He then saw the still face of Anido.
He said his alleged link to the supposed murder of Anido was created because “I was there. Even the family [of Anido] would say I had nothing to do with it.”
Enrile’s version
Enrile said he already knew exactly what happened.
In his book, Enrile said there was no doubt then that Jack’s supposed role was the handiwork of Fabian Ver. He said Ver then was already muddling Marcos’ mind, further straining Enrile’s relationship with the family.
“No doubt, the only purpose of those who spread that false rumor was to besmirch my family and destroy my reputation rather than to solve a crime for there was no crime at all,” Enrile said in his memoir.
He added he gathered all the facts to his foes’ “embarrassment.”
Today, Jack said he is closer now to his father. “Mas nag-uusap na kami ngayong ako’y nasa 50s, and he is in his 80s.”
This father-and-son bond is more apparent with the younger one expected to continue the Enrile name in the years to come.
Enrile trooped today to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to accompany his son in the filing of his certificate of candidacy for the position of senator. Recent surveys showed the younger Enrile placing in the top 5.
Analysts, however, anchor this on the fact that the younger politician is carrying the name of “Juan Ponce Enrile.”
Meanwhile, the Alfie Anido case will remain a mystery in the years to come, only worthy of intrigues and rumors made for movies.
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“Juan Ponce Enrile, A Memoir,” is published by ABS-CBN Publishing and is available in National Book Store branches nationwide.
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JPE reveals other crime linked to son Jack

By Ira Pedrasa
ABS-CBNnews.com
Posted at 10/02/2012 6:39 PM | Updated as of 10/03/2012 6:48 PM
Jack Enrile
MANILA, Philippines – In his memoir, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile rarely mentioned the time he spent with his family — and blamed it on his work.
In fact, he was remorseful that he has not been much of a husband to Cristina and a hands-on father to their two children, Jack and Katrina.
“I realized later in my life that I failed my wife as a husband and both my children as a father for not spending more time with them. I was too busy and preoccupied with my work and with my effort to provide for their material well-being,” he wrote.
And when he realized this mistake, Enrile noted that “it was too late for me to make amends.”
As a public personality, Enrile admitted his family has always been dragged into the issues he was embroiled in. Because of his stature, his family was not exempt from “the viciousness of the threats” against him.
He recounted, for example, when Katrina, then seven years old, was almost kidnapped. From then on, he said he never allowed his children to go out without security.
Though he won’t admit it, Enrile also unwittingly disclosed how his position helped his family in times of troubles. These proved he was still the hands-on father to his two kids.
Painful
In his memoir, Enrile described as “one of the most painful and jolting experiences of my life” a crime tagged to his son Jack.
This was apart from the sensational Alfie Anido case that made the rounds in newspapers despite the restricted press in those days.
Enrile insisted that Anido, his daughter’s boyfriend in the early 1980s, killed himself and that the scandal linking Jack to the alleged murder of the movie star was created by “attack dogs” led by the late Armed Forces chief Fabian Ver.
Unlike the Anido case, however, an older crime linked to his son did not create much media mileage.
While eating breakfast at a hotel in Cebu on September 21, 1975, a man approached him and said: “Mr. Secretary, your son killed my son.”
The man repeated the same words to him. Enrile recalled: “There was no sign of anger or hostility from the man. However, I noticed that the man was looking very sad, as though he was about to shed tears.”
He later learned the man talking to him was a subordinate, Commander Ernesto Lucas of the Philippine Navy.
Lucas’ son Ernest, a fourth year high school student at La Salle, was killed during an exclusive party at San Lorenzo Village in Makati.
“I took off immediately for Manila in my military plane. En route to Manila, I thought about the problem of my son. I decided to quit my job as Secretary of National Defense and defend my son,” Enrile remembered.
Enrile’s version
Some high school boys from Ateneo invited girls from St. Paul’s College during that fateful party. The young Lucas was with three other male companions when he accompanied his sister to the party.
Jack supposedly approached Ernest and told them the party was exclusively for Ateneans. Ernest and his friends supposedly left the party in a foul mood.
He later returned around midnight to fetch his sister. Jack, with his security aide in tow, thought they went back to make trouble.
In his own words, Enrile said: “When Jack talked to Ernest Lucas, one word led to another and a heated argument ensued between Ernest Lucas and Jack. Suddenly, PC Sgt. Danilo Cruz, fired his gun, and Ernest Lucas was hit right in his forehead. He died in the hospital a few hours later.”
When he found out about the “story,” Enrile said he then decided to file his resignation to preclude any suspicions in the minds of the public. Marcos did not agree and told him to just take a leave of absence.
Enrile later engaged the services of high-caliber lawyers for his son and aide. He then went to Japan, where he kept track of the case.
Case turnout
He was only out for almost two weeks. “I returned to the country only after I learned from my office in the DND that my son was not included in the charge filed in court for the death of Ernest Lucas,” he wrote.
It was the aide who was convicted in the end.
“I felt truly sorry for Sgt. Danilo Cruz. I wanted to help him. But I did not and could not, in the same manner that I did not and could not help my own son,” he said.
Today, the relationship of the father and son is stronger compared to before. In an earlier interview, Jack admitted he is closer to his father now that he is of age.
The younger Enrile admitted he was a bad boy in the past but denied he ever killed anyone, including Anido. He said the Filipino public will finally get to see him a changed person.
“It’s always the ambition of a son to follow in the footsteps of a great father. I hope I can live up to his successes. If I do half of what he has done, I consider my political career a success,” he had said.
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“Juan Ponce Enrile, A Memoir” is published by ABS-CBN Publishing and is available in National Book Store branches nationwide.
Posted by omeng at 6:00 AM

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