MANILA, Philippines — Former Senator Juan Ponce Enrile defended his decision to run for a Senate seat despite his age, saying that he is not out to “wrestle” with fellow senators if elected.
“I’m not going to use my brawn, my legs or my arms. I will not wrestle with anybody in the Senate. I’m going to think and decide for a country,” Enrile said on Wednesday.
His statement came as a response to those who are questioning his age after he announced that at age 94, he will be seeking a Senate seat in the May 2019 midterm elections.
READ: Despite age, Enrile wants ‘to join the fun,’ announces Senate run
Enrile said that “his kind of political wisdom, depth and maturity is just what the Philippine Senate needs.”
This, according to the former senator, is the same way people with serious medical conditions go to the most senior and experienced doctors in their fields of expertise.
“If you are sick and the country is not healthy, are you going to get a new graduate from the University of the Philippines College of Medicine or any university for that matter?” he said.
“Even a young medical graduate of Harvard cannot reach the experience of an old medical practitioner. It’s common sense,” he added.
Enrile further said that with a “brand new brain” in the Senate, complicated problems in the country cannot be solved.
“Now you want a brand new brain to go to the Senate, send a baby. Then you cannot solve the problem of a very complicated animal-like society like the Republic of the Philippines,” he said. /ee