J. Carlos Ramirez

live life simply

[Pari Koy @pads_nosi]

lahat ng sangkot dapat managot, anumang kulay at alyado. Marcos, Duterte, Romualdez, Co, silang lahat!

pero itong ginagawa nina Cayetano at Marcoleta ay pambababoy sa institution na dapat maaasahan natin na mapanagot silang lahat!

[J. Carlos Ramirez @bikersbrew]

@ChelDiokno ✊🏼

[Lynda Jumilla-Abalos @lyndajumilla]

From 1 to nampapatay ng aircon at wifi pag kinontra, what level of petty are you?

[Cleve V. Arguelles @CleveArguelles]

Yesterday, we’ve been lectured about Senate independence. Today, for the second time, the Senate President and his Majority failed to show up for session, denying the chamber a quorum and effectively holding hostage the institution they claim to defend. And this, as we see, is what actually undermines Senate independence. Not the lawful arrest of a senator facing criminal charges. Not some imagined assault from outsiders. The greater threat actually comes from within: from senators who abandon their constitutional duties, cripple the Senate’s ability to function, and place partisan loyalties above institutional responsibility. Every time senators choose political convenience over public duty, they diminish the very institution they swore to protect. Independence is not simply the freedom to perform its duty without interference of outsiders. It is also the discipline to show up, do the work, and put the Senate above factional interests. Today, that duty was once again abandoned at the altar of partisan politics.

[Cleve V. Arguelles @CleveArguelles]

Senate independence must be guarded jealously, yes. And institutional independence means freedom to perform its constitutional duties without coercion. But it does not place senators above the law or give them the privilege to be free from the consequences of crime.

[Barry Gutierrez @barrygutierrez3]

So teka, para "ipagtanggol ang independence" ng Senado, ang balak ng grupo ni Alan Cayetano ay isara na lang ng kusa ang Senado at huwag na lang magtrabaho? 🤔 Wala na talagang sense ang mga taong ito.

[michael fajatin @michaelfajatin]

Hindi mo masisisi itong abugado na nagtatali-talinuhan dahil nasanay na puro uto-uto ang kausap. Kaya yung anak ganun din sa tunay na buhay sablay sa matinong usapan.

[Nico B. Valderrama @nbvneverquits]

WORST. SENATE. MAJORITY. EVER.

[Jesus Falcis 🇵🇭 @jesusfalcis]

✅ Calling for the Zoom participation of Leila De Lima was a call for EQUAL treatment because all Senators were using Zoom during the pandemic then.

❌ Calling for the Zoom participation of Bato Dela Rosa is a call for SPECIAL treatment to accommodate his fugitive status.

True!

[raffy magno @raffymagno]

Anim na buwan na hindi nagtrabaho habang sumisweldo. Tapos ngayon naman gustong mag-fulltime na work from home?

Hiyang-hiya naman ang mga minimum wage earners sa Pilipinas sa’yo, Sen!

Taumbayan ang nagpapa-sweldo sainyo. Kahit konting kahihiyan man lang sana.

[Pari Koy @pads_nosi]

Walk out is not defeat. It is defiance. It is choosing to leave not out of fear, but out of greater courage. And that, in itself, is powerful.

No need for shooting scenes and crying drama.

[Leila de Lima @manayleila]

How convenient it is for some people to use me or what I went through as an example whenever it serves their purpose or agenda. Kahit fake news, kahit ibang-iba ang totoong nangyari at naging sitwasyon ko noon, ipipilit pa rin para lang umakma sa naratibo nila.

Nung una, ang sinabi, hindi raw ako nagpa-aresto sa Senate premises. Maliwanag na kasinungalingan yan dahil sa Senado ako mapayapang humarap at nagpa-aresto sa mga awtoridad. Hindi ako nagpakanlong sa Senado, hindi ako nagdulot ng gulo, hindi ako tumakas, at lalong hindi ko inilagay sa peligro ang buhay ng maraming tao.

Now, they cite the resolutions filed by my fellow Senators during my unjust incarceration to allow me to participate in committee hearings and plenary deliberations via teleconferencing. Those were never approved. Kahit nga may COVID-19 pandemic noon kung kailan na-amend na ang rules to allow teleconferencing, di pa rin ako pinayagan. More importantly, no railroading or shortcuts to amend the Senate rules were resorted to in order to accommodate that request which, I repeat, was never granted. Malinaw yan kaya tigil-tigilan nila ang pagkukumpara.

Mahiya at kilabutan naman ang mga nagsasabing magkapareho lang ang pinagdaanan ko sa sinuman na gusto nilang pagbigyan ngayon.

[Dino Singson de Leon @iamdinodeleon]

They are comparing the Senate Resolution introduced before to allow Senator De Lima to join Senate sessions online with the "Dela Rosa Amendment."

The circumstances then were different: there was a pandemic, and Senate sessions and deliberations were really done online. In any event, both the Senate and the trial court rejected it, so there is no reason for it to change now.

More importantly, the cases against former Senator De Lima were fabrications—evidence were based solely on testimonies of convicted criminals. The evidence against Dela Rosa are real: among others, bodies of thousands of those who were murdered under the brutal war on drugs he orchestrated and implemented.

Stop comparing the case of Dela Rosa and De Lima. They are not apples to apples. One is a human rights hero, the other is a murderer.

[Lynda Jumilla-Abalos @lyndajumilla]

I’d have paid good money to witness tito sotto school rodante marcoleta on the hierarchy of senate motions. That “akala ko ba magaling ka sa rules” ended his conceited, pretentious ass.

I was, as they say, wig-snatched.

[Edwin Lacierda @dawende]

A CHEAP SHOT

Sen. Marcoleta’s attack on Sen. Risa Hontiveros that she did not know the rules because she is not a lawyer is a cheap shot, an argument from arrogance and credentialism at its worst.

One need not be a lawyer to recognize a legal issue. One need not be a doctor to recognize when a person has fever. And one need not be an engineer to recognize a bridge collapsing.

Sen. Risa Hontiveros may not be a lawyer but dismissing her argument on that basis is an attack on her credentials, not a defense of substance.

In public debate, the question is not who speaks. The question is whether what is being said is true.

If Senator Marcoleta disagreed with Senator Hontiveros, then he should answer her arguments, not her profession.

In the end, the irony was impossible to miss. Sen. Marcoleta was defeated by Sen. Sotto, a non-lawyer but knew the rules better.

That is the problem with credentialism. It confuses titles for wisdom and professions for truth.

[Chel Diokno @ChelDiokno]

Hindi impressive ang legal background kung ginagamit lang sa pangmamaliit. Mas nakakabahala ang may alam sa batas pero pinipiling baluktutin ito.

[Barry Gutierrez @barrygutierrez3]

In this week's column, I discuss the current Senate President's history of whitewashing the mass murder committed during the so-called drug war. The perverse rebranding of the killings as "pro life" is just his most recent attempt to wash away blood with rhetoric.

[Cleve V. Arguelles @CleveArguelles]

The Du-Dirty 13, that Senate Majority trying to make the institution into a protecting ring for their accused, charged, and fugitive members, really is the gift that keeps on giving. As troubling as the proposal to allow electronic voting was the attempt to rewrite quietly, hoping they slip through without the public fully seeing what is happening. And, sometimes, as the Minority did, the most important vote is to walk away. To refuse to legitimize a process that undermines the institutional integrity of Senate. Should Senate rules evolve for institutional necessity or... political convenience? Kasalanan ba ng Minority na maraming may kaso at maaaring ma-aresto sa mga susunod na araw sa Majority? The Minority walkout is a reminder that democracies need opposition willing to make power uncomfortable, especially those who abuse it. Salamat, mabuhay sa Principled 11!

[Kiko Pangilinan @kikopangilinan]

Clearly, disinformation has no place in this chamber. The sowing of intrigues has no place in this plenary hall. Fake news has no place in this plenary hall. And I say this by presenting the facts.

This representation was Chairman of the Committee on Constitutional Amendments from August 12 until May 11. And the records will speak for itself. Sabi nga nila, we should seek the truth from the facts and not from disinformation video propaganda.

What are the facts from August 12 until May 11? The Committee on Constitutional Amendments never held hearings on Constitutional Change — that in itself is proof. That is “haka-haka,” this conspiracy to commit or to amend the Constitution for whatever reason: self-serving, term extension, no-el, etc. These are lies.

In this plenary hall and in this chamber, the Senate did not entertain Charter Change under my watch as Chairman of the Committee on Constitutional Amendments — for the record. And I support the striking off the record — that it be stricken off the record.

[J. Carlos Ramirez @bikersbrew]

Filipinos Deserve A Better Senate President. Alan Peter Cayetano Must Resign! https://t.co/e29iY0bW8a via @ChangePilipinas