Buena Bernal

ASEANist grad student. Indie writer & host. Multi-awarded int'l journalist: Geopol, SDGs, infosphere, global majority, intersectionality🌎

[Buena Bernal @BuenaBernal]

Sharing photos from the awarding ceremony for the 2021 Migration Advocacy and Media Awards last March 16. Thank you again to the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO)! 🇵🇭

📸CFO

[Buena Bernal @BuenaBernal]

1ST EP OUT! Wrote & hosted @PumaPodcastPH's 4-part vodcast on the #Bangsamoro region, ff the historic-first #BARMM parliamentary elections

YT: https://t.co/0tzNcYM5xE
Spotify: https://t.co/ogctrWACSK
ApplePod: https://t.co/6lWThJ7Dl1

DM me ur thoughts. Or just say hi for fun!

[Buena Bernal @BuenaBernal]

1ST EP OUT! Wrote & hosted @PumaPodcastPH's 4-part vodcast on the #Bangsamoro region, ff the historic-first #BARMM parliamentary elections

YT: https://t.co/0tzNcYM5xE
Spotify: https://t.co/ogctrWACSK
ApplePod: https://t.co/6lWThJ7Dl1

DM me ur thoughts. Or just say hi for fun!

[Buena Bernal @BuenaBernal]

@AlbertDomingo Small world, Usec. Hello to Kuya Ty! Yr above me, same Science HS named after the late (elder) Francisco Q Duque. And yes, he was already a nerd then, representing the HS in quiz tilts. Nerds rule 😅

[Buena Bernal @BuenaBernal]

... will likely move the needle in terms of the votes of senators sitting as impeachment trial judges.

Political survival is the name of the game, even as the trial is supposed to be an accountability mechanism to ensure grave failures by sitting officials are dealt with

5/🧵

[Buena Bernal @BuenaBernal]

NEWS TODAY: #Philippines Sen. Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa's renewed plea for a court order to halt his arrest has been denied again by the Supreme Court, without yet resolving the issues raised in the main case including the jurisdiction of the @ICC

1/🧵

[Buena Bernal @BuenaBernal]

... the possibility of backlash in the middle of an impeachment trial on his ally-turned-political foe, Vice President Sara Duterte?

He may be right on the law (likelihood based on non-issuance of TRO & past jurisprudence), but he also needs popular support, as this...

4/🧵

[Philippine Supreme Court Public Information Office @SCPh_PIO]

The #SupremeCourtPH has ruled that non-verbal threatening gestures with criminal intent may be considered grave threats under the 𝘙𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘗𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘊𝘰𝘥𝘦 (𝘙𝘗𝘊).

In a Decision written by Associate Justice Alfredo Benjamin S. Caguioa, the SC’s Third Division acquitted Gregory Israel of grave threats after finding no criminal intent in his gesture of pretending to shoot and behead two individuals.

But it clarified that the crime of grave threats may be committed through non-verbal gestures and not only through spoken or written words.

Israel, who claimed to be a Belgian architect allowed to practice his profession in the Philippines, was hired by Belgian business partners Christine Helena Amanda Navez and Olivier Edmund Denonville for the construction of their building. After Israel refused to correct the construction defects in the said building, Navez and Denonville filed a case for damages against him.

Sometime in 2017, while Navez and Denonville were on their way home from the airport, they nearly collided with Israel’s motorcycle. The latter then allegedly made two overt gestures: pointing his fingers at Navez’s head as if pulling a gun trigger and drawing his fingers across his neck as if threatening to behead Navez.

Israel was convicted of grave threats. When his conviction was affirmed by the Court of Appeals, he sought relief from the SC, arguing that he had no criminal intent when he performed the acts, and that Article 282 of the 𝘙𝘗𝘊 does not cover pure non-verbal gestures.

The SC acquitted Israel after finding that criminal intent was not proven. But it disagreed with his other argument, ruling that non-verbal gestures may be considered grave threats.

To convict for grave threats, the 𝘙𝘗𝘊 requires two elements: the 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗿 𝘂𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘀 and the 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲.

The SC held that Article 282 of the 𝘙𝘗𝘊 does not differentiate between threats conveyed verbally and those expressed through non-verbal gestures. What matters is the communication of a threat intended to intimidate.

Although the second paragraph of the provision specifies that threats can be conveyed orally or in writing, it does not exclude threats conveyed through non-verbal means. Therefore, threats can be either verbal or non-verbal.

Read the full text of the Press Release at https://t.co/kijn44PbWg.

Read the full text of the Decision at https://t.co/AzByW8iJlG.

Copying of this content is subject to the SC PIO’s Credit Attribution Policy: https://t.co/F48RF1vtzZ.

[Buena Bernal @BuenaBernal]

In the video of @ZyannAmbrosio, also embedded w/ NBI agents, you will see the mood ie how everyone there felt the imminent threat of being "under attack"

The Senate building was not under attack, based on evidence

There were people who truly felt they were, in that moment

3/🧵

[Buena Bernal @BuenaBernal]

Re the default instinct to fire a weapon:

This isn't some counterinsurgency operation in the hinterlands. Even such ops require intelligence-gathering & planning. Don't just fire at someone next door w/o first asking your neighbor what's up. That's failure of intelligence

1/🧵

[Buena Bernal @BuenaBernal]

Is it standard operating procedure to call in your troops and more back-up men from the army and police then fire your weapon, acting on a mere assumption?

On the background in John Consulta's video, you will hear a clear directive via radio for NBI agents: "Do not engage"

2/🧵

[Gita Gopinath @GitaGopinath]

A painting of the end of meritocracy: A meeting of the two largest economies and not one woman at the table.

[Buena Bernal @BuenaBernal]

In that panel probe, the Rome Statute provision on "competent judicial authority", w/c no longer applies after withdrawal from the ICC, was also discussed

Had the senators seen infirmity, they could've changed the law, which they had the power to do so

The IHL law remains

5/🧵

[Buena Bernal @BuenaBernal]

Here now plays the politics of the Duterte core vs the Duterte-adjacent: Inside the Senate, protection relies on the stance of the flimsy majority ie their interpretation of the local law on IHL. If the majority's politics goes against them at any pt, Bato loses protection

1/🧵

[GMA News @gmanews]

PAANO NAKAALIS NG SENADO SI BATO?

Base sa dokumentong nakuha ng GMA News, pasado 2:30 AM ng May 14, 2026 nakaalis ng Senado si Sen. Bato dela Rosa kasama si Sen. Robin Padilla.

Narito ang unang mga detalyeng nakuha ng GMA News.

Bisitahin ang https://t.co/bAMF9JOAN0 para sa iba pang mga balita.

[Buena Bernal @BuenaBernal]

Fact again is: After the committee probe on Pres. Rodrigo Duterte's arrest where Sen. Imee Marcos pressed interior and justice ministers re: the application of the local law on IHL, no changes in the law were passed, even if the pt of the probe was in aid of legislation

4/🧵

[Buena Bernal @BuenaBernal]

Is a resolution issued right after receipt of comments? Of crs, TROs & resos can be issued on the court's timing anytime. TROs imply urgency. Based on past cases, a reso isn't issued that fast right after receipt of comments. Many cases wherein na-moot na, tsaka pa lang naresolve

[Buena Bernal @BuenaBernal]

SC can issue a TRO anytime upon being petitioned. Timing of the issuance is an indicator of the urgency of the plea. That's why in coverages, a TRO is indicative of initial victory for the plea. That it wasn't granted prior to the procedural seeking of comments is telling 1/🧵

[raissawriter @raissawriter]

Pls ask, reporters covering the Supreme Court - If the Executive branch of govt and the police submit their reply to the SC by Thursday, does this mean the SC can make its decision by Friday? Ex-ciiiiii-ting.