EMBrizuela

“Democracy does guarantee the right of every man to think as he pleases, to speak freely and to advocate his beliefs” - Fulton Sheen

[The Diplomat @Diplomat_APAC]

Organized crime groups with roots in Taiwan have become a useful tool for the Chinese Communist Party in Taiwan and, increasingly, abroad. https://t.co/sxaWZmB91I

[Henry Gao @henrysgao]

This is not getting the attention it deserves. As far as I know, this is the first time China has imposed sanctions on a sitting minister of another country, rather than former officials or current lawmakers as it has done previously. That suggests Beijing is willing to escalate far beyond its earlier, largely symbolic sanctions playbook. In other words, the sanctions game may now be entering an entirely different phase — one where China is prepared to target incumbent members of foreign governments directly, raising the stakes significantly in diplomatic and geopolitical confrontation.

[Isabella Anderson @IsabellaAn67]

Two China Coast Guard Ships attacking a Filipino Coast Guard vessel inside Philippines's waters!

China calls this "Law Enforcement Activity"

But when, Philippines & Japan sign defense treaties, China blames them for destroying peace & destabilizing the region!

[Kiko Pangilinan @kikopangilinan]

By imposing sanctions on the Philippine Secretary of National Defense, China is striking at the sovereign decisions of the Republic of the Philippines. As a Cabinet official and the President’s alter ego on defense and security, Secretary Gilberto “Gibo” Teodoro articulates and implements national policy. Punishing him and his family for doing so is a direct affront not only to him, but to the President, the Philippine state, and our constitutional order.

This marks a clear escalation in China’s pattern of coercion and intimidation against a smaller neighbor that, despite repeated provocations, has consistently responded with diplomacy, restraint, and adherence to the rule of law. The Philippines has chosen legal remedies, including the legally binding 2016 arbitral award, and transparent, rules-based engagement instead of brinkmanship.

By sanctioning a sitting Cabinet member for defending an arbitral ruling and asserting rights guaranteed under international law, China diminishes its own standing in the community of nations. Such actions undermine its claim to be a responsible major power and only strengthen the resolve of democracies — big and small — to stand together against coercion.

[IMPERATOR @IMPERATORAUS]

In his Summa Theologiae, St Thomas Aquinas laid out one of the most charitable yet practical arguments concerning immigration that effectively shaped the West for almost 1,000 years.

1. Immigration must always be proportionate so that foreigners can properly assimilate into the culture and mode of worship of the state.

2. Citizenship – and associated rights – should only ever be granted after the third generation to preserve the culture, mode of worship, and constitution of the state.

3. The common good of the citizens must remain the highest priority of the state, meaning, the state's obligation to provide aid to its neighbours can never be at the expense of the citizens.

However, Aquinas ends with the sobering reminder that some peoples and states are incompatible with one another, and these must be held as "foes in perpetuity".

[Catholic Arena @CatholicArena]

🚨 Pope Leo XIV has sent a WARNING to migrants, telling them how to behave when they arrive into new countries:

'Learn its language, to respect its laws, to get to know its customs, to participate in communal life and to offer your gifts with gratitude'

[Tami 🇮🇱 @roitele1]

En 1946, 3 niños supervivientes testificaron en los juicios de Nuremberg. Thomas Buergenthal, de 11 años, dijo a los jueces: "Vi a mis amigos ir al gas. Me salvé porque podía arreglar zapatos. Apuntó al guardia de las SS Ernst Grabner en la corte. Grabner fue ahorcado. Thomas se convirtió en juez de la Corte Internacional de Justicia. Él dijo: "Sobreviví para ser testigo. La ley es cómo luchamos contra el genocidio. Más de 200 niños supervivientes testificaron en juicios 1945-1965.

[EMBrizuela @spousefirsttoo]

@inquirerdotnet Bagay

[EMBrizuela @spousefirsttoo]

Ingrown toenail na kasunod

[EMBrizuela @spousefirsttoo]

Ninakawan na inaalila pa

[AltIndayBadiday @AltIndayBadiday]

The Final Word

[West Philippine Sea Transparency Group @wpstransparency]

𝐏𝐇 𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐏𝐇𝐈𝐋𝐈𝐏𝐏𝐈𝐍𝐄 𝐒𝐄𝐀 𝐑𝐄𝐌𝐀𝐈𝐍 𝐆𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐃 𝐈𝐍 𝐅𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐋𝐄𝐆𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐘

National Maritime Council 𝐔𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐀𝐥𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐋𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐳 assured the public that all government actions concerning the reported movable floating structure in the 𝐖𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐏𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐚 will be guided by legality and factual developments on the ground. In a Press conference today June 10, 2026 he emphasized that the 𝐏𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐝 to protecting its national interests through measured, lawful, and evidence-based actions rather than speculation.

Undersecretary Lopez added that the government's current priority is 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬 the situation, noting that it is still premature to determine whether assistance from allied countries is needed, as the matter is presently being treated as an internal concern.

#WestPhilippineSea
#WPSTransparency
#TransparencyInitiatives
#PhSovereignty

[Chel Diokno @ChelDiokno]

Tuwing Brigada Eskwela, nakikita natin ang bayanihan ng komunidad para ihanda ang mga paaralan bago magpasukan. Pero sa likod nito, marami pa ring teachers ang napipilitang maglabas ng sariling pera para sa pintura, repair, cleaning materials, dekorasyon, electric fan, at iba pang kailangan sa classroom.

Hindi dapat ganito. Kaya naghain tayo ng House Resolution No. 1102 para paimbestigahan ito: saan napupunta ang PHP 1.015 trillion na pondo DepEd, bakit may mga guro pa ring napipilitang gumastos, at paano natin masisigurong hindi na ito mauulit taon-taon.

Kung guro ka, magulang, estudyante, o parte ng school community: naranasan ba ito sa inyong lugar?

Ibahagi sa comments ang sitwasyon sa school ninyo. Kailangang marinig ang totoong nangyayari sa ground.

[ABS-CBN News @ABSCBNNews]

Nasabat ng Bureau of Customs ang 26 na container na inabandonang sibuyas mula sa China. Ayon sa BOC, dumating sa bansa ang mga ito noong December at January. | via @JohnsonManabat

[DZRH NEWS @dzrhnews]

WATCH: 26 na container ng mga abandonadong imported fresh red onions mula china ininspeksyon ng Bureau of Customs sa Manila International Container Port (MICP) kasama si Senator Kiko Pangilinan.

Ayon kay Customs Commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno, aabot sa P86. 7-M ang halaga ng mga naturang imported na sibuyas.

Hindi muna pinangalanan ang consignee ng naturang agricultural products ngunit mula sa mahigit P9.64 -M duties and taxes na kailangang bayaran mahigit P574k pa lamang ang nababayaran nito.

May mga kaukulang permit at dokumento naman aniya ang kargamento kaya't over importation ang tinitingnang paglabag.

Dahil dito, nahaharap ang consignee ng naturang imported na sibuyas sa paglabag sa paragraph c & d , section 1129 ng Customs Moodernization and Tariff Act. | RH 09 @NolascoAgustina, DZRH News

[Kiko Pangilinan @kikopangilinan]

INSPEKSYON SA ₱86-M NA IMPORTED NA SIBUYAS SA MICP

Ngayong umaga, June 10, kasama natin ang Department of Agriculture (DA), Bureau of Customs (BOC), at Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) sa isinagawang inspeksyon ng 26 containers na naglalaman ng tinatayang ₱86 milyong halaga ng imported red onions sa Manila International Container Port (MICP).

Habang nabubulok ang sibuyas ng ating mga magsasaka, ito namang imported onions ay nabulok din matapos maiwan at hindi ma-claim. Kung ganito ang nangyayari, kailangan nating tanungin kung bakit may pumapasok pang ganitong kalaking volume ng imported onions sa kabila ng sapat na lokal na suplay.

Kung lehitimo ang shipment na ito, bakit iniwan na lamang at hindi na-claim? Bakit hindi binayaran ang kaukulang buwis at mga bayarin? Dapat masagot ito upang mapanagot ang mga nasa likod nito at maprotektahan ang ating mga magsasaka.

Bakit tayo mag-iimport kung marami ngang supply dito sa atin? Ito ang tanong na paulit-ulit na lumabas sa ating public hearing. Ang pagpasok ng imported onions sa panahon ng oversupply ay lalo lamang nagpapabagsak sa presyo at nagpapahirap sa ating mga magsasaka.

Hindi dapat nabubulok ang sibuyas ng ating mga magsasaka, at hindi rin dapat nasasayang ang mga produktong pumapasok sa bansa. Ang kailangan natin ay maayos na pamamahala ng suplay, mahigpit na pagpapatupad ng batas, at mga polisiyang inuuna ang kapakanan ng ating mga magsasaka.

[Liza Rosen @LizaRosen0000]

The elderly woman is Nira Ronen (86) from Kibbutz Kfar Aza. Her foreign caregiver is Angelyn (Angie) Aguirre, a 32-year-old Filipino woman.

Both were murdered on October 7, 2023, in Nira’s safe room during Hamas’ barbaric attack on Israel.

Hamas broadcast it live to the world.

Angelyn had been working for Nira for only a month and a half after getting married in the Philippines. She could have fled but chose to stay by her elderly patient’s side and refused to abandon her. She begged the terrorists for mercy, but they executed both women simply because they were non-Muslims.

The Hamas terrorists filmed them before the execution. The video shows an armed terrorist with a gun, the elderly woman in bed, and the caregiver beside her. Muslims worldwide, including the wife of the NYC mayor, cheered and celebrated the bloodshed committed in the name of their religion.

Islam is not a religion of peace.

This is jihad—a holy war for a death cult that murders the elderly and innocent without hesitation. They see infidels as sacrifices for Allah’s sake.

Angelyn’s courage stands in absolute contrast to the barbarism of her murderers. She gave her life protecting a helpless 86-year-old woman while the world watched.

Never forget. Never forgive.

[Liza Rosen @LizaRosen0000]

Angelyn Aguirre, 32, a native of the Philippines, was murdered by Hamas in Kibbutz Kfar Aza on October 7.

Angelyn cared for Nira Ronen, and they were both slain side by side as they hid inside the apartment’s safe room.

“In her last message, she told us the gunmen had arrived and she was scared,” said Wilma Bandong, Aguirre’s eldest sister.

Her sister Angenica said Angelyn tried to close the door of the bomb shelter to prevent the gunmen from entering, “but they overpowered her.”

Angelyn’s family said she got married in September 2022 and flew back to Israel a few days later to resume work.

She was known as a sensitive, gentle, and devoted young woman who was immensely smart and learned Hebrew quickly to communicate with her employer.

May Angelyn’s memory forever be a blessing.

[AP @Average_NY_Guy]

Here’s a question nobody likes asking about Nazi Germany:

How did countries like Austria, Poland, and France collapse so fast? These were established nations with armies, governments, borders, and millions of people. France alone was considered one of the strongest military powers in Europe.

Traditionally, we are taught that Hitler’s army was simply this unstoppable military machine that steamrolled Europe because it was overwhelmingly powerful. And yes, Germany was militarily strong. But that explanation alone has always felt incomplete, because historically even very strong armies usually do not conquer enormous amounts of territory that quickly unless something inside the targeted societies is already collapsing first.

Austria disappeared almost overnight. Poland fell within weeks. France collapsed in six weeks. History usually does not work that way unless large parts of the population no longer truly believe the fight is about their own survival.

The uncomfortable and dark reality is that many people did not initially think Hitler was coming for them.

Austria is probably the clearest example. The Anschluss was welcomed by huge parts of the population. German troops entered to cheering crowds, flowers, and celebrations. Many Austrians convinced themselves that joining Nazi Germany would mostly affect the Jews while improving life, or at least preserving it, for everyone else.

That mentality existed across Europe in different forms.

The illusion behind Hitler’s message was essentially: you can still be French, Polish, or Austrian. Live your life. Raise your children. The real problem is your Jewish neighbor.

And for millions of people, that was enough to weaken the will to resist.

A society only fights with total determination when people believe defeat means the destruction of their nation, identity, and future. But many Europeans convinced themselves the Jews were the primary target, so they accepted things they never would have accepted otherwise.

Some collaborated. Some stayed silent. Some rationalized. Some simply looked away.

The tragedy is that they were wrong anyway.

Austria lost its independence. France was humiliated and occupied. Poland was devastated. Cities were destroyed, sovereignty disappeared, millions died, and entire societies were dragged into catastrophe.

People often think evil can be managed as long as it is directed at somebody else first.

History shows otherwise.

This is why I’m done trying to convince Americans or Europeans about the dangers of extreme Islamism. In many mosques and Islamist circles, hatred toward America, Christianity, Western civilization, and Jews is preached openly and repeatedly. Yet many people in the West still process it the same way many Europeans processed antisemitism in the 1930s: “Yes, maybe they hate the Jews, but that doesn’t mean they are coming for us.”

That psychological separation is exactly the point.

As long as people believe somebody else is the primary target, they convince themselves they can safely ignore the ideology itself. They assume the hostility will remain contained to Jews, Israel, or some distant “other.”

But ideologies built around civilizational hatred do not stay neatly limited to one target forever.

And the end result, increasingly visible already across parts of Europe, is collapsing social trust, collapsing law and order, ethnic fragmentation, parallel societies, radicalization, and the steady erosion of the very national identities people assumed were untouchable.

At some point, societies make their own choices.
And eventually they live with the consequences of those choices.

You reap what you sow.

[🏛 ᜀ ᜃᜓ ᜐᜒ ᜇ᜔ᜌᜓᜈ᜔ 🏛 @iam_jniest]

Pwede naman palang gumawa ng marker nang walang pangalan ng pulitiko.

📸 Naga City Government