Enrile spotted playing Bejeweled

MANILA, Philippines - Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile remains sharp as ever. His secret? Playing the classic video game Bejeweled.

The 89-year-old lawmaker was spotted toying around with a white iPad mini during yesterday’s Blue Ribbon committee hearing on the sex-for-flight scheme involving overseas Filipino workers in distress.

A radio reporter managed to take a peek at the screen of the veteran legislator’s iPad and discovered Enrile clearing the different colored gems of the highly popular video game.

Asked by reporters about it, Enrile said he had been playing Bejeweled for some time.

It’s not exactly fun and games that Enrile is after, but rather an activity to exercise his mind, which he admits has been affected by age.

“Matagal na, (I’ve been playing this for a long time), to exercise my diminishing intellectual capacity,” he said.

His game mode of choice? Zen.

“I like Zen. There are many games within Bejeweled,” Enrile said as he pointed out to reporters the various game modes.

“Butterflies is difficult so what I play is Zen,” he added.

Enrile said the game was installed on his iPad by his secretary from his old law office as a way for him to pass the time.

“Whenever I want to exercise my grey matter, I play it. I want to see how fast I can finish a game,” he said.

Enrile said he was not into Candy Crush, another popular but newer version of the game. “I do not like to eat candies,” he remarked.

Enrile said he learned the game on his own and is now at level 271 with a score of 7,126,250.

The game’s developer PopCap Games said Zen mode is “the relaxation, no-pressure mode. There is no end to the game. New matches always drop in so you can play as long as you like.”

It also features a number of soothing audio-visual effects that can be tailored to the player’s preference.