MANILA, Philippines -- Tension erupted on Wednesday during the regular session of the Senate when Senator Juan Ponce-Enrile lost his temper over a colleague’s reference to the 1986 uprising that toppled the Marcos dictatorship as the “so-called EDSA revolution.”

Enrile was defense minister of the dictatorship but later turned against the late president Ferdinand Marcos and helped lead a failed coup attempt whose discovery helped trigger the uprising popularly called the EDSA revolution.

Senator Rodolfo Biazon, a former Armed Forces chief, was speaking on the floor in support of a resolution commending the award for outstanding Philippine soldiers of 2008 given by the Rotary Club of Makati Metro and the Metrobank Foundation Inc.

When Biazon used the term “so-called” to describe the uprising, Enrile reacted, saying: “Not so-called revolution. I feel offended by the word so-called. I laid my life [on the line] in that revolution, you did not.”

Ignoring Enrile’s outburst, Biazon continued with his speech, recalling the 1986 toppling of the dictatorship and the role the military, including Enrile, played in the historic event.

“But did we profit by that participation?” Enrile asked, adding, “You gentlemen were the ones who profited [from the uprising]…not us.”

In an apparent attempt to ease tensions, Biazon said he would no longer comment on the issue and left the rostrum to pacify Enrile.

But an irked Enrile confronted Biazon even if the session had been suspended, telling the former soldier: “But [you said it is] a so-called EDSA revolution. Who are you to say that?”

The situation eventually cooled, session resumed, and the resolution was approved.