elrey 🤓

pubad done, law school now | high-functioning mind with a crippling case of mañana habit

[elrey 🤓 @Rey__Jan]

Reflection in Law School #1: answer with confidence, even if not sure.

Assert your ground. A lawyer-to-be must embody courage, the same exercised by actual lawyers. You will learn even if you make a mistake or get scolded

[elrey 🤓 @Rey__Jan]

@HEYOgrapinas Funny how PDP still uses Laban when it officially dropped it

Can't let go if its historical significance, clinging to relevancy

[iam ian 🇵🇭 @IanIslander3]

Tawag dyan State of Facebook Address

[patricia🌿 @pinaysipatricia]

This is environmental suicide. 😡🤬
#NoToPaxSilica

[elrey 🤓 @Rey__Jan]

17.51% turnout

[ABS-CBN News @ABSCBNNews]

Voters in five coastal barangays in Parañaque City ratified City Ordinance No. 2023-19, which alters the territorial boundaries of Baclaran, Tambo, Don Galo, La Huerta, and San Dionisio adjoining the reclaimed areas in Manila Bay.

(Courtesy: Comelec) | via @eon_sanchez

[Klause @claus_klause]

and 65 to 90 million liters of water daily
and for what? AI doesnt even produce anything tangible or any basic human need

[elrey 🤓 @Rey__Jan]

[3] "... Congress may have also legitimately concluded that they have the capacity to revise their pricing strategy so that whatever reduction in profits or income/gross sales that they may sustain because of sales to senior citizens, can be recouped through higher mark-ups"

[elrey 🤓 @Rey__Jan]

The Supreme Court's say for this: "the 20% discount and tax deduction scheme is a valid exercise of the police power of the State... the 20% discount has not been shown to be unreasonable, oppressive or confiscatory."

Manila Memorial Park v. Secretary of Social Welfare and Dev't

[radar PH @radarph_media]

Every time the government announces a new benefit, the headlines are almost always the same: another win for senior citizens, persons with disabilities, or workers.

But one of the country’s leading restaurateurs is asking a harder question that has struck a nerve among entrepreneurs: Who actually pays for those promises?

David P. Sison, co-founder, president, and CEO of Mama Lou’s Hospitality Group and president of the Restaurant Owners of the Philippines Association (RestoPH), has gone viral after posting a strongly worded critique of government policies that, while popular among the public, leave private businesses absorbing much of the financial burden.

Sison is widely known for helping transform Mama Lou’s Italian Kitchen from a small family restaurant in Las Piñas into one of the country’s fastest-growing casual Italian dining chains. Using an MBA thesis as his blueprint, he helped expand the brand into around 30 branches nationwide while also launching restaurant concepts such as Nonna’s, Famu, and Brau Bass. Beyond business, he has become an outspoken advocate for the local food and beverage industry through RestoPH.

In a lengthy Facebook post, Sison argued that while government officials receive public praise for expanding social benefits, the cost is often transferred to private businesses.

“Every time the government announces a new benefit, people celebrate. And they should,” Sison wrote. “But do you know who pays for it? Not the government. We do.”

His post has resonated with many business owners who say they have long shouldered the costs of mandated discounts, wage hikes, and compliance requirements with little public recognition.

Sison pointed to the evolution of the Senior Citizens Act as an example.

Under Republic Act No. 7432, enacted in 1992, establishments were originally allowed to claim the full amount of senior citizen discounts as a tax credit, effectively reimbursing businesses for the benefit shouldered on behalf of the government.

That changed in 2004 with Republic Act No. 9257, he noted, when the tax credit was replaced with a tax deduction. Instead of recovering the entire value of the mandated discount, businesses now recover only a fraction through reduced taxable income.

“Today, for every 100 pesos of discount we grant, we recover only 20. The other 80 comes from the business,” he wrote, adding that Republic Act No. 9994 and Republic Act No. 10754 retained the same framework.

“Most people, even business owners, do not know this.”

Sison also questioned how newly mandated wage increases are implemented.

“We support it. Our people deserve it,” he said. “But when the announcement was made, no support came with it. Just the mandate. The applause goes to the government. The payroll comes from us.”

He argued that the burden does not stop there.

Businesses must also absorb VAT exemptions, mandatory employee benefits, permits, inspections, compliance reports, and a growing list of regulatory requirements—all while facing criticism from consumers whenever prices increase.

“The sari-sari store owner. The carinderia. The pharmacy. The restaurant that opens at 6 a.m. and prays it makes it to the end of the month,” he wrote, referring to the enterprises he believes quietly shoulder these obligations.

Sison emphasized that he is not calling for the removal of benefits.

“Our lolos and lolas deserve them. Our workers deserve them,” he said.

Instead, he challenged what he described as a system where the government receives political credit for social programs while private businesses are left to finance much of the cost.

“Generosity is easy when someone else pays the bill.”

His post has reignited debate over whether the government should once again fully reimburse businesses for mandated discounts, as originally provided under the 1992 law, instead of shifting much of the burden to employers and entrepreneurs.

For many business owners, Sison’s message echoed a long-standing frustration: that while businesses are expected to support every new government promise, they are rarely asked whether they have the capacity to keep footing the bill.

(✍️: Top Dagohoy)

[elrey 🤓 @Rey__Jan]

[2, cont.] "... considering (1) not all customers of a business establishment are senior citizens and (2) the level of its profit margins on goods and services offered to the general public."

[Kiko Pangilinan @kikopangilinan]

Thank you for your kind words Sen. Ping. Yes a snapshot indeed and in an electoral landscape wherein digital technology makes it possible for content online to be viewed by tens of millions overnight, then it is quite possible that millions of votes can either be gained or lost overnight depending on the content.

.

[Kiko Pangilinan @kikopangilinan]

Lumabas ang unang Pulse Asia Senate survey para sa 2028.

Heto naman ang Pulse Asia April 20 to 24, 2025 Senate Election Survey.

Dito, wala po tayo sa listahan sa page 1. Nasa page 2 po. Ranking 16 to 18 at 4 percent ang kulang para makapasok sa top 12 habang plus/minus 2 percent nanan ang margin of error. Ika nga, anybody’s ball game at tight fight ang 12 to 18.

Ang mahalaga, hindi tayo bumitiw at nakipagbakbakan mano a mano hanggang sa dulo. Ang resulta? Nag number 2 si Bam at nag number 5 naman tayo. Habang nag number 1 naman ang Akbayan Partylist ni Risa at nanalo rin si Leila sa ML Partylist. Tandaan. Hindi tayo pinabayaan ng taumbayan at tiwala ako na hindi tayo pababayaan ng taumbayan.

Sa Awa ng Dios, kapag taumbayan na ang kumikilos at tumataya ang imposible nagiging posible. Magtiwala.

Malayo pa ang 2028. Walang bibitiw!!

Tuloy lang.🙏🙏❤️❤️🇵🇭🇵🇭

[elrey 🤓 @Rey__Jan]

wouldn't be an issue if the Senate had its own office space

[ABS-CBN News @ABSCBNNews]

Ayon kay Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian, kinakain ng impeachment trial ni Vice President Sara Duterte ang oras at ilang kwarto sa Senado, na nakakaapekto rin sa mga pasilidad na ginagamit ng Commission on Appointments.

Basahin: https://t.co/4w0lwc9qu9

[hasanabi @hasanthehun]

keep pushing. these numbers are good but still not as high as they should be

[elrey 🤓 @Rey__Jan]

bro wtf u mean it's been only one month

i've experienced like 3-5 months worth of events in July alone

[Romnick Sarmenta @Relampago1972]

Walang nasayang sa pagboto kay senator Chel Diokno. Kasama yung sa akin doon.
Wala akong binoto sa mga nag-iingay at nagmamagaling sa floor. Masaya ako para dun.

Cheldren are proud of their senator.

[elrey 🤓 @Rey__Jan]

i hate that in this economy, i can barely make savings

[The Beatles Earth @BeatlesEarth]

Today in 1969, The Beatles recorded "Come Together"

[elrey 🤓 @Rey__Jan]

His defense was that his arrest was illegal, he was a confidential agent authorized to carry firearms, and that imprisonment under PD 1866 for simple illegal possession was excessive and cruel punishment

You think the prosecution should have been more accomodating to him?

[elrey 🤓 @Rey__Jan]

Robin Padilla, of all people, should know that defense and prosecution are one-sided

Robin Padilla v. Court of Appeals (1997), a case relevant in both Crim 2 and Consti 2

[elrey 🤓 @Rey__Jan]

at nagtataka pa ang iba ba't tayo di siniseryoso both in and out of our country

[ABS-CBN News @ABSCBNNews]

Robin Padilla, Vico Sotto top Pulse Asia's July 2026 senatorial survey https://t.co/2IZ0sA2PmW