Vin.Reafort ♤

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[Karen Davila @iamkarendavila]

‘IBA BA ANG STANDARD SA ORDINARYONG TAO SA MATAAS NA OPISYAL?’

Atty Lorna Kapunan says if the VP backtracks, or says she lied or says the threats were a joke, “Can she still be trusted? It is still considered grave threats”

REMINDER:

In 2020, 4 people were arrested after posting online what were considered death threats against then President Duterte.

1. Public school teacher Ronnel Mas of Zambales was charged with incitement to sedition after posting he would give P50 million to anyone who could kill Duterte.

2. Joemarc Ebcay of Ozamiz was charged with sedition after he posted a Facebook comment offering P150 million to anyone who could kill Duterte.

3. Ronald Quiboyen, a construction worker, was arrested for allegedly writing on Facebook that he would give P100 million.

4. Maria Catherine Ceron of Cebu was also arrested for allegedly offering P75 million to kill Duterte.

“Even if ordinary citizens did not have the capacity, did not have a private army or did not hire an assassin, even if they did not have the capability to offer several millions, it was still considered grave threats” @ANCALERTS #ANCHeadstart

[Sonny Trillanes IV @TrillanesSonny]

Ito yung political ad na nilabas namin nung 2016 campaign pero hinarang ng kampo ni duterte. Ngayon, alam nyo na ang epekto ng isang violent environment sa mga bata.

[raffy magno @raffymagno]

There is something deeply troubling about a society that is quick to demand the harshest punishment for children, while celebrating convicted plunderers, tolerating corruption, and rewarding leaders who normalize violence.

Young people do not grow up in a vacuum. They learn from the values we model, the behavior we reward, and the systems we build around them. Violence rarely begins at the moment it becomes visible. It is often preceded by bullying, social isolation, neglect, untreated trauma, and countless missed opportunities for intervention.

If we want children to reject violence, then we must also be willing to examine the ways our society excuses, glorifies, and profits from it. We cannot celebrate violence among adults and expect young people to learn a different lesson.

[Pari Koy @pads_nosi]

Bakit tayo magtitiwala sa isang Mike Defensor na una nang naging tagapagtanggol ng korap na pamamahala at gobyerno ni Gloria Macapagal Arroyo?

People, that man has history of lying, lying and lying!

[Chel Diokno @ChelDiokno]

Pasensya na’t medyo mahaba ang video, pero importante ito.

Bakit nga ba PEKE ang “Anti-Political Dynasty” Bill na pinasa ng Kogreso nitong linggo? At higit sa lahat, ano ang pwede pa nating gawin para magkaroon ng batas na tunay na magwawakas sa mga dinastiya?

Panoorin ito at mag-comment kung ano ang tingin niyo dito!

[Leila de Lima @manayleila]

I refuse to support a law that effectively institutionalizes political dynasties!

I vote NO to House Bill No. 8389 or the “Anti-Political Dynasty Act.”

HB 8389 is not a true or genuine anti-dynasty law, but rather a dynasty legitimization act.

First: The bill has no succession ban. A governor can be succeeded by a spouse, who can be succeeded by a child, who can be succeeded by a sibling – indefinitely, legally, under this bill. 

Second: The bill permits a governor, a mayor, and a Representative from the same family governing the same province simultaneously, as it only prohibits relatives from holding office within the same level of government, not within the same territory. 

Third: The bill permits multiple congressional districts controlled by one family within the same province. Three adjacent districts, three relatives, all voting for the same party line: legal. Exactly as it operates today. Nothing changes.

Fourth: The bill neither covers party-list representatives as protected positions nor references incumbents. Therefore, a senator's son or daughter can be nominated and serve as a party-list representative – perfectly legal under this bill

Fifth: The bill limits the prohibition to relatives within the second degree of consanguinity or affinity, covering spouses, parents, children, and siblings. However, this second-degree prohibition excludes broader kinship networks, such as grandparents, first cousins, uncles, aunts, nieces, and nephews, through which dynastic power is often exercised. Limiting the prohibition to only the second degree narrows the reach of the law and allows extended family networks, which remain close-knit in Philippine culture, to continue operating within the same political sphere.

Sixth: The bill does not address, hence, permits substitution, caretaker designation, and every indirect route to office. The prohibition under this bill covers only direct candidacy, not the back doors.

The Filipino people have been waiting for this law since 1987. Tatlumpu't siyam na taon. 

We can do better than this. We can pass a law worthy of the wait. A law the framers of the 1987 Constitution would recognize as the fulfillment of their mandate, not a betrayal of it.

I vote NO to HB 8389, not because I oppose anti-dynasty legislation. I vote NO precisely because I support it. I refuse to support a law that effectively institutionalizes political dynasties.

The Filipino people deserve better. The Constitution demands better. We can do better.

[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.

𝗪𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗼 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮.

[Edwin Lacierda @dawende]

CARRY ME OR CARRY ON

A Study In Contrast Between Risa Hontiveros and Pia Cayetano

Public service is not about asking the public to worry about you. It is about reassuring the public that you are equal to the moment.

After the Senate shooting incident, Senator Pia Cayetano publicly wondered why no one was checking on her welfare. Together with her brother, Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano who also expressed the same sentiment in a press briefing days earlier, the message that came across was: “Check on me and carry me.”

Yet history gives us a different standard. President Corazon Aquino endured nine coup attempts, including the bloody 1989 coup that nearly toppled her government. Her son, Benigno Aquino III, was struck by a bullet that remained lodged in his neck for the rest of his life. Yet Cory Aquino never publicly asked why no one was checking on her welfare. She never demanded sympathy. She never made herself the story. She kept her composure, fulfilled her duty, and focused on leading the nation through crisis, the same quiet stoicism exemplified by the late Queen Elizabeth II throughout her reign of service.

And when Senator Risa Hontiveros found herself on the receiving end of Senator Pia Cayetano’s complaints, she responded neither with self-pity nor anger but with dignity, restraint, and firmness. Her message was simple: Keep Calm And Carry On.

That is the contrast before us. One approach says, “Check on me and carry me.” The other says, “Keep calm and carry on.”

In public service, the measure of leadership is not how often we ask others to check on us. It is whether, in moments of crisis, we can steady ourselves, steady the institution, and help the nation carry on.

Last Wednesday, through a privilege speech that sought common ground among her fellow senators, appealed to the best in the Filipino character, and through the calm and dignity she displayed in response to Senator Pia’s rant, Risa Hontiveros proved herself to be one such leader.

[Leila de Lima @manayleila]

BAWAL ANG HOKUS-POKUS! PERA NG GOBYERNO, PERA NG TAUMBAYAN.

Attended the budget briefing with the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) today—the first day of scrutinizing the proposed 2026 National Budget.

During this briefing, we have confirmed that historically, there were no major changes between the National Expenditure Program (NEP) and the General Appropriations Bill (GAB) (except during the financial crisis in the 1990s and the COVID-19 pandemic from 2020-2022), and that there were indeed unprecedented cuts and diversions from the NEP in 2023, 2024, and 2025.

Ang tanong nga natin: Bakit ito ang naging trend pagdating sa Pambansang Budget sa ilalim ng kasalukuyang administrasyon? Ano ang tugon dito ng Executive, dahil siguradong apektado ng major cuts and diversions na ito ang priority development plans ng gobyerno? Ano ang nangyayari o saan ginagamit ang pondong kinakaltas sa ibang ahensya at programa (tulad na lang ng pondo para sa foreign-assisted projects) at inililipat sa unprogrammed funds?

Hindi birong mga halaga ito, bilyon-bilyong piso o trilyong piso pa nga, ang pinag-uusapan natin dito.

Simula pa lang ito at ito ang mga klase ng detalye na patuloy pa nating hihimayin sa mga susunod na budget hearings and deliberations.

We know too well how important transparency is in crafting, passing and implementing the National Budget as this has a huge impact on the lives of our countrymen.

Together, let us scrutinize this most important piece of legislation that Congress passes every year to ensure that every centavo will be spent for the benefit of the Filipino people.

Hindi pwede ang hokus-pokus dito dahil ang pera ng gobyerno ay pera ng taumbayan.

📸 Screengrab from the House of Representative's FB video

[Leila de Lima @manayleila]

NAPAKARAMING KULANG

Kinalimutan ang human rights. Nagpakita ng tapang sa mga palpak at pinagkaperahang flood control projects, pero tahimik sa impeachment at maling paggamit ng confi at intel funds. Patay-malisya sa online gambling.

Hindi matatakpan ng mga pinalakpakang accomplishments ang mga isyung iniwasan. Hindi ito tunay na state of the nation.

[Teddy Casiño @teddycasino]

The SC ruling on Duterte’s impeachment is erroneous, insidious, dangerous 🧵

As a former congressman and one of the complainants in the 2nd impeachment complaint against Vice Pres. Sara Duterte, I would like to point out the following flaws of the Supreme Court decision.

[Leila de Lima @manayleila]

Dapat patas at transparent ang proseso, at tunay na nagsusulong ng hustisya. Hindi puwedeng maging isang palabas lamang ito para pagtakpan ang katotohanan.

[Chel Diokno @ChelDiokno]

The PNP was turned into a killing machine, and everyone involved in the War on Drugs must be held accountable. The explosive Quad Com hearings yesterday demand urgent and immediate action, which should include the following: 🧵

[Richard Heydarian @RichHeydarian]

If you “just wanna help”, pwede naman kayo mag bukas ng charity or NGO… or apply work at DSWD! Amazing how few of the celebrity candidates understand the real job of a senator!

[Richard Heydarian @RichHeydarian]

STOP SAYING “WALANG ALTERNATIVE”, or “Lahat naman sila TRAPO”!!!

Wrong!!! Just look at the incredible PROGRESSIVE options from LEILA DELIMA & CHEL DIOKNO for the Congress to KA-LEODY, BAM, & FRANCE Castro for SENATE… Dami options!! They need your SUPPORT!

[Barry Gutierrez @barrygutierrez3]

Hindi daw siya bratinella, pero hindi niya pinaharap kahit ISANG TAGA-OVP sa budget hearing, tapos pinakilos ang mga alyadong kongresista para hilingin na i-APPROVE na lang ang budget dahil sa "parliamentary courtesy."

Di lang brat, kundi duwag at makapal.

[Vin.Reafort ♤ @vin0ric0]

https://t.co/dCZiQvULbW

[Barry Gutierrez @barrygutierrez3]

I've made my peace with 2022.

But reminders like these, still make me mourn for the type of leadership we could have had.

[Leila de Lima @manayleila]

Our law enforcers should show more sense than to be seen fraternizing with arrested fugitives from justice. If they cannot stop being starstruck by Alice Guo, maybe they can apply to become part of her personal entourage. They have shown as much in their videos and selfies. Remember, always be mindful and professional in performing your functions.

[Vin.Reafort ♤ @vin0ric0]

https://t.co/2e8NgWGWe8