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[Pari Koy @pads_nosi]

Iglesia becoming politically active for wrong reasons, not to defend truth, justice, or the dignity of every human person, but to protect power, personalities, or partisan interests.

Tapos lakas niyong sabihin na mas tama ang doctrina at totoong simbahan kayo? Ayaw niyo nga sa rebulto, pero taga-samba naman kayo ng mga politiko.

[Kiko Pangilinan @kikopangilinan]

BINABALEWALA ANG ATING RULES. KAMI SA SB-11 AY TUTOL DITO DAHIL IMPUNITY ITO!

Ang nangyari ngayon ay malinaw na pag-abandona sa tungkulin, pagpapabaya sa responsibilidad, at tahasang pagsasawalang-bahala sa mga alituntunin ng institusyong ito. Hindi maaaring patigilin ang Senado sa pagtatrabaho dahil lang tumatangging mamuno ang presiding officer nito.

[Kiko Pangilinan @kikopangilinan]

SOLID BLOC 11: ALAN PETER CAYETANO RESIGN!

What happened today was a clear abandonment of responsibility, a dereliction of duty, and a blatant disregard of the rules that govern this institution, because the Senate cannot be made to stop working simply because its presiding officer refuses to lead.

Under Rule XIV, Sec. 41 of the Rules of the Senate, the Senate President may postpone the holding of the session AFTER consultation with the Majority Leader AND the Minority Leader. That rule was violated. This is not merely a procedural lapse—it is a direct violation of the Rules of the Senate and a serious disrespect for the institution and the Filipino people.

Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano SHOULD RESIGN as he has shown that he cannot function as the leader of the Senate.

[Karen Davila @iamkarendavila]

Senators were seen crying yesterday as a colleague was being arrested for plunder.

This is in no way an indictment of the accused senator but I would like to remind our lawmakers…

Iyakan n’yo ang ninanakawang Pilipino.
Iyakan n’yo ang binabaha dahil sa nakawan sa flood control.
Iyakan n’yo ang gutom nating mga kababayan.

Get out of your bubble. Please.

[Kiko Pangilinan @kikopangilinan]

SOLID BLOC 11: THIS IS NOT SENATE INDEPENDENCE BUT A BOYCOTT OF DUTY

The Solid Bloc 11 minority senators were present today for the 5 p.m. resumption of session, ready to work, ready to vote on pending bills and ready to keep the Senate running, but the majority led by SP Cayetano chose not to show up.

They did not even have the courtesy to inform us when they ignored the rules, and could not extend the basic decency of telling the minority that they had no intention of convening.

Let us focus on the work, because the Senate has serious business before it, and if the majority wants to protest, deliver privilege speeches or defend its position, the proper place to do that is on the floor, not by making the chamber stand still.

Ang Senado ay hindi pag-aari ng iisang may hawak ng gavel. Institusyon ito ng taumbayan at napakadaming mahalagang panukala ang nabibinbin dahil sa drama ng mayorya.

Important measures were left hanging because of the majority’s boycott, including the Magna Carta of Barangay Health Workers, the Anti-Hospital Detention Bill, the confirmation of generals before the Commission on Appointments and the bills granting Philippine citizenship to Bennie Boatwright III and Matthew James Ramos.

Let us call this for what it is: the claim that this is about Senate independence is false, because what happened today was about the rule of law, public accountability and a lawful process before the Ombudsman and the Sandiganbayan that no senator, no bloc and no presiding officer controls.

This is a boycott because of the arrest of Senator Jinggoy Estrada, and the public should not be asked to believe another convenient line from a leadership that has repeatedly twisted the truth.

Today was a step toward accountability in a controversy that the public has long demanded action on, and after years of people asking why nothing was happening in flood control investigations, it is unacceptable to suddenly call the rule of law an attack on the Senate.

Is Senate President Alan Cayetano now questioning the rule of law?

Sa totoo lang, ang gusto nila ay kampihan, hindi prinsipyo. Gusto nila sumama kami sa boycott, patahimikin ang Senado at gamitin ang minority para manatili ang Senate President sa puwesto habang iniiwasan ang tunay na test of numbers sa floor.

This may be the first time in decades that Senate work stopped because the presiding officer himself refused to work, because even during typhoons and the height of the pandemic, work was suspended only because of necessity or because systems still had to be set up, not because the leadership chose a boycott of duty.

The public has every right to ask whether SP Cayetano is repeating what he did in the House of Representatives, when questions were raised about a leader refusing to step aside, refusing to convene and holding up proceedings when the numbers were no longer certain.

The question now is just as serious: will they do this again for the next two session days, and will they keep the Senate idle simply to avoid facing the numbers on the floor?

The Senate should open its doors, call the session to order and return to work, because no Facebook post, no appeal to institutional pride and no political drama can erase the basic duty of senators to show up, follow the law and serve the people.

And lastly, we call on the Filipino people to watch the Senate closely, because when an institution refuses to work, public vigilance becomes the people’s first line of defense.

[Gilbert F. Dabari @SkyVirginSon]

MOST CATHOLICS DON’T KNOW WHAT RAPHAEL’S NAME ACTUALLY MEANS.

Raphael.

In Hebrew, it means: “God heals.”

He is the only angel in Scripture explicitly sent by God on a mission of healing.

He traveled disguised as an ordinary man.

He healed a blind father.

He drove away the demon that had killed seven husbands.

And only at the end did he reveal who he truly was:

“I am Raphael, one of the seven angels who stand before the glory of the Lord.”
• Tobit 12:15

Seven angels stand before God’s throne.

But only three are named in Scripture:

Michael — who fights.

Gabriel — who announces.

Raphael — who heals.

And Raphael’s mission did not end in the Book of Tobit.

For centuries, Christians have called upon him in times of sickness, fear, blindness, exhaustion, and despair.

He is the patron of healing, travelers, and those seeking God’s mercy in suffering.

If you are sick today…

If someone you love is in a hospital…

If doctors have no answers…

Remember this name:

Saint Raphael.

“God heals.”

Saint Raphael the Archangel, pray for us.

🔁 Repost this for someone who needs healing today.

[Jay Tarriela @jaytaryela]

Five posts in a single day from the Chinese Embassy? That alone tells the world who is truly rattled by facts, transparency, and international law.

A state genuinely confident in its legal position does not spend 24 hours flooding social media with repetitive propaganda disguised as legal arguments just to answer one Philippine Coast Guard officer.

THE LAW AND THE FACTS are clear: the 2016 South China Sea Arbitral Award is final and binding under Article 296 of UNCLOS and Article 11 of Annex VII of UNCLOS.

1. On China’s 2006 Article 298 Declaration. The Embassy keeps invoking China’s 2006 declaration under Article 298 of UNCLOS as if this magically exempted China from all arbitration. It did not.

The Philippines deliberately structured its case to avoid questions of territorial sovereignty and maritime boundary delimitation. The Tribunal carefully examined China’s Article 298 declaration and ruled in its October 2015 Award on Jurisdiction that the Philippine submissions concerned the interpretation and application of UNCLOS — matters fully subject to compulsory dispute settlement under Part XV of the Convention.

UNCLOS is not subject to the CCP’s propaganda system. In fact, the Tribunal even declined jurisdiction over certain matters involving military activities precisely to respect Article 298 and China’s 2006 declaration.

So the claim that the Tribunal “ignored” China’s declaration is simply false. The Tribunal studied it extensively — and still ruled that it had jurisdiction.

2. On the “Nine-Dash Line”

China cannot rewrite UNCLOS by drawing arbitrary dashes on a map.

The Tribunal ruled that China’s so-called “historic rights” claim within the nine-dash line is incompatible with UNCLOS and therefore without legal effect. UNCLOS comprehensively allocates maritime entitlements through territorial seas, Exclusive Economic Zones, and continental shelves. There is no legal basis in UNCLOS for a state to claim almost an entire semi-enclosed sea merely because it wishes to do so.

Changing the terminology from “nine-dash line” to “adjacent waters” does not change the legal reality.

3. On Bajo de Masinloc and Philippine Fishermen

The Tribunal affirmed that Filipino fishermen possess traditional fishing rights at Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborough Shoal), and that China unlawfully interfered with those rights.

What deeply concerns many observers is how Beijing now portrays Filipino fishermen operating near their own coasts as “provocateurs,” while Chinese Coast Guard and maritime militia vessels operate thousands of nautical miles from mainland China inside the Philippine Exclusive Economic Zone under Article 57 of UNCLOS.

That inversion of reality is precisely why the international community increasingly distrusts Beijing’s narrative.

4. On Transparency

The Philippines releases footage because we have nothing to hide.

If China believes the videos are misleading, then Beijing is free to release complete and unedited footage from its own vessels or even embed independent journalists from credible media entities. Yet time and again, China prefers vague accusations over full transparency.

Facts do not fear sunlight. The uncomfortable truth for Beijing is this: the legal debate ended in 2016. What remains is China’s refusal to comply with a binding ruling issued under a treaty that China itself shaped and ratified.

A country cannot selectively obey UNCLOS only when convenient. International law is not a buffet.

And the irony is difficult to miss: Beijing lectures others about respecting sovereignty and territorial integrity while simultaneously threatening Taiwan daily, harassing Southeast Asian fishermen in their own EEZs, and deploying coercive maritime tactics across the South China Sea.

The world can see the contradiction clearly. No amount of repetition, propaganda, or coordinated social media posts can overturn the plain text of UNCLOS or erase the 2016 Arbitral Award.

[Edwin Lacierda @dawende]

It is perfectly understandable for Senator Pia or anyone caught in that incident to ask whether colleagues checked on their welfare. But public office requires us to look beyond ourselves.

Personal concern is natural. Public duty demands something more. At a time when the nation is asking how gunfire erupted in the Senate and how Senator Bato de la Rosa managed to evade arrest or why that ludicrous Senate Sargeant at Arms fired the first shot, the focus should be on institutional accountability rather than personal reassurance.

[DAVAOMIGRANT @nabunturanguy]

Nice one from FB.
Care to comment @piacayetano ?

[Jay Tarriela @jaytaryela]

The @Chinaembmanila has now spent four posts attacking me as Mr. Jay Tarriela. When the facts are on your side, you do not write essays against the person stating them — you correct the record. Evidently, China cannot, so it attacks the messenger instead.

On the bridges, vaccines, and aid: no one denies they were given, and Filipinos are not ungrateful. But development assistance is not a receipt that entitles the giver to violate another nation’s sovereign rights. A neighbor who builds you a bridge and then blocks your fishermen from waters lawfully theirs is not a friend. Generosity in one domain does not buy impunity in another. Sovereignty is not for sale.

On the 2016 Arbitral Award: the Embassy calls it “null and void,” yet it was rendered under UNCLOS — a treaty China voluntarily ratified in 1996. The Tribunal settled its jurisdiction in 2015 before reaching the merits in 2016, and under Annex VII, the Award is final and binding on both parties. A State cannot ratify a treaty, accept its dispute mechanism, lose, and then declare the result illegal. That is not a legal argument.

On the claim that “no country claims the entire South China Sea”: this is wordplay, not law. The Tribunal found China’s nine-dash-line assertion of “historic rights” had no legal basis under UNCLOS. Rebranding it as “Nanhai Zhudao and adjacent waters” does not relegalize a claim that has already been rejected.

And the point that matters most: no volume of vaccines, no number of bridges, and no press release changes what our fishermen see at Bajo de Masinloc — water cannons, dangerous maneuvers, military-grade lasers, and obstruction within our own exclusive economic zone. These are not “rescues.” You cannot harass a fisherman in his own waters and then claim to be saving him.

My statements need no scary music. The coordinates speak for themselves. The footage is not storytelling; it is evidence. China’s presence in the West Philippine Sea remains illegal under the very Convention it signed — and no amount of public relations will change that!

[furr-ever_pink @MaritessDr]

@tj_canino Sa legit news channels ka manuod,nay... baka puro sa fake news ng troll vloggers...mislead, misinformed ka tuloy lagi😏....

[NewsWatch Plus PH @newswatchplusph]

TRILLANES ON APLASCA: ‘HINDI KA NA MAGTATAKA BAKIT LIBO-LIBO ANG NAMATAY SA EJKs’

WATCH: Former Senator Sonny Trillanes calls for a review of the background of Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Mao Aplasca, citing his role in the Philippine National Police during the Duterte administration’s drug war.

In an interview on The Newsmaker, Trillanes described Aplasca’s actions during the Senate incident as “irresponsible.”

Aplasca held key positions in the Philippine National Police during the Duterte anti-drug campaign, including as Calabarzon police chief.

“Hindi ka magtataka bakit libo-libo ang namatay sa EJKs, the way he made his decisions,” he said. | @TristanNodalo

[Leila de Lima @manayleila]

Get your facts straight, SP Alan!

Magkaiba kami ni Sen. Bato dela Rosa. Kusa akong humarap at nagpaaresto sa mga arresting authorities noong Feb. 24, 2017.

Hindi ako nagtago, hindi ako nagpakaduwag. Hindi ako nagpakupkop, at lalong hindi ako nagdulot ng gulo sa Senado.

Huwag kayong magpakalat ng fake news para lang pagtakpan at protektahan ang duwag at pugante!

[Jayman6000 🍥 @jayman6000_]

@newswatchplusph So ito pala yung hitsura na mag aaresto. Nice

Fuck you @DILGPhilippines 🖕🖕🖕🖕

[Christian Esguerra @IanEsguerra]

Let's be honest. Alan Peter Cayetano should be held accountable for Bato's escape. He should be included in the investigation.

[Karen Davila @iamkarendavila]

Someone has to be made accountable for Bato’s escape.

No less than the DILG Secretary and PNP Chief entered the senate building last night to secure the senators.

The public was assured last night Bato was in the “5th foor, in his room, resting”. Bato’s lawyer showed a video last night of Bato supposedly in the senate.

The senate building should’ve been secured last night - no one in, no one out.

We need answers. How did Bato escape? Who helped him?

[raffy magno @raffymagno]

All this chaos.

Just to protect the Dutertes and their allies.

The country has sacrificed too much—our institutions, our democracy, and far too many lives—for the survival of people who believe they are above accountability.

[Jay Tarriela @jaytaryela]

The Chinese Embassy in Manila has once again inadvertently admitted what we have long asserted: that China is conducting illegal Marine Scientific Research (MSR) inside the Philippines’ Exclusive Economic Zone.

In their statement, they confirm that their research vessel Xiangyanghong 33 was operating in the waters near “China’s Houteng Jiao” — their name for Iroquois Reef, the southernmost part of Recto Bank (Reed Bank). This area lies well within the Philippines’ 200-nautical-mile EEZ and continental shelf. It does not belong to China.

Under UNCLOS Article 246, marine scientific research in the EEZ of a coastal state shall be conducted only with the consent of that coastal state. China has no such consent from the Philippines. Their unilateral “legitimate marine ecological survey” is therefore a clear and deliberate violation of Philippine sovereign rights and international law.

The presence of China Coast Guard vessels and their so-called “professional and standardized maneuvers” in these waters is equally unlawful. The China Coast Guard has no jurisdiction, no law enforcement authority, and no sovereign rights in Philippine waters. Their actions constitute an illegal assertion of jurisdiction in an area where they have none.

The 2016 South China Sea Arbitral Award was crystal clear: China’s nine-dash line has no legal basis, Recto Bank/Reed Bank falls squarely within the Philippines’ EEZ, and Chinese claims to “historic rights” or jurisdiction over these waters are invalid.

Our PCG Islander aircraft was simply doing routine MDA flight — monitoring unauthorized foreign activity inside our own EEZ. That is not “harassment.” It is the responsible exercise of our sovereign rights under international law. The real distortion of facts comes from Beijing’s repeated attempts to rewrite geography and law to suit its expansionist agenda.

[Chel Diokno @ChelDiokno]

Klaro sa batas: ang Impeachment ay exception sa Bank Secrecy Law. Hindi puwedeng gawing taguan ito kung pananagutan sa bayan ang usapan.

Yan ang dahilan kung bakit nailabas ng Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) ang reports ng bilyong-bilyong covered and suspicious transactions sa accounts ni VP Sara Duterte.

Balikan ang naging usapan sa hearing ng House Commitee on Justice noong Miyerkules—at mag-comment kung sa palagay mong may "probable cause" o sapat na batayan para umusad ang kaso.

[Jay Tarriela @jaytaryela]

Mr. Guo Wei’s statement is yet another attempt to distort reality and shift blame. Let me be clear: the Philippines is not intruding into anyone’s waters. We are simply exercising our sovereign rights and jurisdiction in our own exclusive economic zone and continental shelf, as affirmed by UNCLOS.

The 2016 South China Sea Arbitral Award is final, binding, and legally unassailable. It categorically rejected China’s illegal “nine-dash line” claims and historic rights assertions. Bajo de Masinloc lies well within the Philippines’ EEZ. While Panganiban Reef, Ayungin Shoal and Zamora Reef are low-tide elevations that do not generate entitlement to a territorial sea, exclusive economic zone or continental shelf, and are not features that are capable of appropriation by occupation or otherwise.

Panganiban Reef and Ayungin Shoal are part of the exclusive economic zone and continental shelf of the Philippines. These areas fall squarely within the Philippines’ 200-nautical-mile EEZ, and only the Philippines possesses sovereign rights over the resources and activities there. China has no legal basis to claim them as its “territorial waters” or “airspace.”

Geography itself exposes the absurdity of China’s position. Bajo de Masinloc is approximately 120 nautical miles from the coast of Luzon, well inside our EEZ. It is over 500 nautical miles from the nearest point on China’s mainland and even farther from Hainan. Panganiban Reef is roughly 129 nautical miles from Palawan—again, deep inside Philippine waters. These are not “China’s waters.” They never were.

When our Coast Guard and naval vessels operate in these areas, when our aircraft conduct lawful patrols, or when our fishermen exercise their fishing rights, we are not provoking anyone. We are simply doing what every coastal state has the right to do under UNCLOS: defend our maritime domain. It is China’s repeated deployment of coast guard ships, maritime militia, and naval vessels into our EEZ—often in large swarms—that constitutes the real intrusion and the source of tension.

We remain committed to diplomacy and to a peaceful, rules-based order in the South China Sea. But diplomacy does not mean surrendering our sovereign rights. The 2016 Award is the law and will continue to uphold it transparently, responsibly, and without apology. The real question is not who wants peace—it is who refuses to accept the binding decision of an international tribunal and continues to militarize features inside another country’s EEZ.