The return of the Balangiga bells after 117 years of being in possession of the United States of America became historic and celebrated by the netizens on social media.

Most of the people credited President Rodrigo Duterte for making the return of the bells possible after the chief executive publicly asked the U.S to return the bells.

“Give us back those Balangiga bells. They are ours. They belong to the Philippines. They are part of our national heritage,” Duterte last year during his second State of the Nation Address (SONA).

However, several critics of the government tried to convince the people not to thank the President like Senator Risa Hontiveros who said that the current administration should not claim the credit on the return of the bells.

She explained that the public’s “strong sense of history and justice” was the reason why the bells were returned and not the foreign policy of the government.

The lady senator also slammed the President for his foreign policy which she claimed in favor of China.

“It would be wrong and insensitive for the Duterte administration to claim sole credit for the return of the bells and insist that this was the result of its so-called independent foreign policy,” Hontiveros said in a statement.

“It was the people’s strong sense of history and justice that led to the return of the bells not President Rodrigo Duterte’s defeatist foreign policy which has only managed to surrender our sovereignty and territory in the West Philippine Sea,” she added.

She also hopes that the return of the bells should be a wake-up call for the Filipinos to fight against dictatorship.

“With the return of the bells, it is my hope that they will toll once again, this time in support of democracy and against an aspiring tyrant who has turned the entire country into a “modern howling wilderness” marked by unabated killings and human rights abuses,” she said.

Former Vice Mayor Pulong Duterte slammed Vice President Leni Robredo for downplaying the list that he revealed showing that the latter was part of a group that planning to oust President Rodrigo Duterte.

Several days ago, Duterte revealed the list of some companies, organizations, and names of people allegedly part of the plot to grab the power of the President; he even named a famous fast-food restaurant, several priests and numerous politicians like Vice President Leni Robredo and former VP Jejomar Binay.

In her statement, Robredo called the list of Duterte as ‘irresponsible’ and ‘baseless’.

“Napakairesponsable na magpost ng isang bagay na, una, wala namang basehan. Pangalawa, hindi ko alam kung alam niya kung saan iyon nanggaling,” she said on her Sunday radio program.

“Obviously, ‘yung gumawa nun hindi nag-aksaya ng panahon para magreasearch. Sana nalaman niya na hindi naman ako pumupunta sa mga lugar na iyon. At yung mga nakalista hindi ko naman mga kakilala,” Robredo continued.

In response, Pulong told Robredo to avoid joining the issue and do his work as the Vice President.

“Teka, sino irresponsible? Look who’s talking! Ginagawa mo FVP? Nakikisali kapa talaga no? Mag trabaho ka nalang diyan oi!” Pulong said in his Facebook post Yesterday.

He also included a news article about the infamous video of Robredo which addressed to the international community.

The video was criticized on social media before, saying that Robredo mentioned several unverified figures in the video and called her actions as spreading fake news in the international community.

He also hit the ‘troll’ supporter of the Vice President who was always attacking him on his own social media page.

The former Vice Mayor even suspected that the social media supporters of the Vice President need to be paid first before starting posting messages against Pulong on social media.

“Pabulong na pagbasa ha.. nag hihintay ako sa mga feeling matalino at ang troll army nila.. mag ban and delete na naman ang admin ng page,” he said.

“Ang tagal naman nilang magalit hindi pa siguro na bigyang ng pang tanghalian.. na pasma na kaya di maka sagot,” he added.

In his post today, Pulong Duterte clarified that the list that he posted on social media is not his own creation and only sent to him.

He also slammed the people who kept telling that he’s the one who created the list, including Father David Reyes and Senator Nancy Binay.

You can read Pulong’s whole post below:

Sana binasa ninyo nang maayos ang caption ko bago kayo nanggalaiti sa galit. Huwag pong b*b*. Huwag pong t*nga.

Ang sabi ko, ipinadala lang sa akin yong listahan. I posted para “bibo” — para masaya.

Kung hindi ninyo naintindihan ang caption ko, kaninong problema? Kung ang media ay palyado ang reporting, kasalanan ko?

Hayun. Si Ginang Leni, halos lumuwa ang mata sa pag-reak. Sakay agad.

Ngayon naman ay si Senator Nancy Binay ang sumasawsaw. Ma’am Nancy, hindi pa po kasali ang mutants sa listahan. Hindi po kayo kasama doon.

Para doon sa mga obispo, para kay Father Reyes, busy kayo masyado sa pulitika, ang iingay ninyo, dahil marahil gusto ninyong kalimutan namin ang s*x scandal ng mga paring manyak at r*pist at p*dopilya.

Samantala, loslos ninyo!

Former Senator Bong Revilla Jr. slammed Jim Paredes in his Facebook post related in the infamous incident where the OPM artist berated five members of Duterte youth last year during the People Power Revolution anniversary.

In his resurfaced social media post, Revilla criticized Paredes for acting like a dictator while promoting free speech and democracy in his activism.

According to Revilla, Paredes showed his true color when he tried to silence the five youths who expressed their support to President Rodrigo Duterte in the middle of a anti-Duterte rally.

He believes that Paredes showed the real attitudes of the opposition where their beliefs are the only right thing while the others who don’t believe them have no right to exercise their freedom of speech.

The actor-politician also told Paredes to leave the country.

The social media post of Revilla resurfaced several days after the former Senator gained his freedom after Sandiganbayan acquit him from the plunder case he faced.

You can read his whole post below:

“Jim Paredes, kahiya-hiya ka. For someone claiming to be pro-freedom and pro-democracy, you sure look like a tyrant! Sa nagmamalaking tagapagtaguyod ng kalayaan at demokrasya , ikaw ang diktador! Para sa isang nangangalandakan ng pagiging disente, inilabas mo ang napakasahol mong asal.

The future belongs to the youth, and those youth exercised their freedom to express their beliefs. You stood in their way saying they had no right to do so. Ipinakita mo ang tunay na kaanyuan ninyong mga dilawan.

Na sa inyong mga utak, kayo lang ang tama at kung hindi niyo kakampi, dapat ihiya at pagdusahin. Yan nga mismo ang ginawa niyo sa akin. Ganunpaman, hindi ito tungkol sa akin kundi tungkol sa inyo. Alam kong subukan niyo na naman ilihis ang usapan, pero hindi kayo makakaiwas sa katotohanang inilantad ninyo sa lahat. Let’s put this in the proper perspective.

Just because you were in EDSA in 1986 and wrote a song for it does not make you an authority of People Power. Hindi kayong mga dilaw ang People Power. Ang Pilipino ang People Power. Kayong mga dilaw ang umagaw nito sa mga tao para makinabang at mamunini. Kayo ang nagnakaw ng EDSA sa tao. You ruined EDSA. Kayo ang bumaboy sa People Power, na kitang-kita sa ginawa mo.

You do not embody the Filipino. In fact, kahiya-hiya kang matawag na Filipino. You do not embody the Filipino’s dreams, aspirations and ideals. In fact, ikaw ang balakid para makamit ng mga pilipino ang mga hangarin at aspirasyon. Hindi ka nakakatulong. You simply cannot accept that you are no longer relevant; that you can no longer fool the Filipino. Umalis ka na lang at makisalamuha sa mga Kangaroo. Pero baka pati mga Kangaroo, sipain ka rin dahil sa sama ng ugali mo.”

Former Interior Secretary Mar Roxas plans to comeback in the senate gained different reactions from the netizens, some cheered the defeated Presidential candidate while the others reminded him about the alleged negligence he committed during the Yolanda Crisis.

Some even repeatedly promoted Mar Roxas on social media, however a bloggers claimed that the Liberal Party’s front man in the 2016 elections are financing his senate campaign that he allegedly using even car show models to promote him on social media.

Blogger and Radio Host Mark Lopez shared the information he received from his car show model friend, he got informed that Mar Roxas’ campaign team are paying them ₱10,000 minimum per month post on social media to promote the said candidate.

The car show model who didn’t disclose by Lopez said that they need eight post to promote Roxas to their followers.

But they can also promote other candidates because they’re freelancers without any exclusive contract with the Mar Roxas campaign team.

She even told Lopez that she can help him in finding other influencers who accepts paid promotion for the other candidates in the 2019 elections.

The said car show model also clarified that they’re not supporter of Mar Roxas, but she refuse to disclose the candidate that she supported in the 2016 presidential elections.

According to Lopez, what he discovered is an evidence that Mar Roxas wanted to manipulate social media to clean his name.

You can read his whole post below:

“THE MAR ROXAS “INFLUENCERS”

People of the Philippines, I wish to present to you my personal discovery of how Mar Roxas is paying off social media influencers for his senatorial comeback.

The thing is, he is really going all out that even car show models are fair game.

Just to give you a snap shot of how I validated this – A car show model friend alerted me on a surprising trend in her circle of fellow models. She noticed a non stop posting of pro Mar Roxas news and blogs from her colleagues, which is unusual, as they were not inclined to be so engaged in politics.

So she sent me a screenshot of the posts of these car show models. I validated the identity of these models, and she confirmed them to be authentic FB accounts of the models.

I then sent friend requests to 3 of these models and also texted them via the messenger app.

One model responded. I introduced myself and pretended to be a PR strategist for an unnamed candidate for senator.

Peeps, see and read for yourself our conversation thread below.

Ako mismo ang kausap nyan.

And this is one clear proof of how MAR ROXAS is manipulating social media to fool the people.

Quite pathetic of him and his strategists to employ such deceptive tactics.

PS… I have blurred the identity of the model in the convo. Our exchange remains in my messenger app, and I personally vouch to its authenticity.”

Meanwhile another netizen told Mark Lopez that Roxas not only hire car show models to promote him, but also other big social media pages.

Bryan Henrry showed that some pages which is not talking about politics before suddenly shared Mar Roxas’ CNN interview about the Yolanda Funds, most of the pages used the same caption.

Unlike President Rodrigo Duterte who’s at first friendly with the New People’s Army (NPA), his daughter and Davao City Mayor Inday Sara since start didn’t want any negotiations between the said rebel group.

Most of the netizens are curious on why Inday Sara was so angry with the communists that she even protest the peace talks led by her father between the government and NPA and now the President explained where the Davao City Mayor got her grudge against the rebel group.

According to him, President Rodrigo Duterte’s adoptive father is one of the victims of the NPA Elite unit called ‘Sparrow’ in Mindanao.

Inday Sara is still teenager when the incident happened and she already witnessed how the NPA committed their crimes.

“She was 14, 15 years old yung adoptive father ko, nung pumunta sila dito sa Mindanao nagkaroon ng kainan, doon nakikain pa ang mga animal.. sparrow.. pagkatapos kumain binaril sa ulo,” President Duterte said.

“Kaya kinabukasan kasama ko si Inday, kaya yang si Inday galit talaga yan sa inyo, tignan mo ang bunganga ni Inday, yan ang totoo para malaman ng tao na galit yan sa (komunista)” he added.

Inday Sara is known for clashing with different CPP-NPA-NDF members, calling them as terr*rist and liars.

The most recent criticisms threw by Sara was against the members of the ACT-Davao who accused her of not giving allowances to teachers.

“We have copies of the budget, pictures of distribution and the liquidation with all signatures. Pahirapan pa nga magpa approve ng grant ninyo at kami pa ang nasa alanganin and you have the temerity to lie. Kung pwede lang sana kayo expel outside of Davao City.” Inday Sara said.

Like his daughter, President Rodrigo Duterte also lose hope in negotiating with the CPP-NPA-NDF and he even ordered the army to make a task force to hunt the ‘Sparrow’ units of the said rebel group.

Employees of Malacañang Palace and Davao City Hall would celebrate a good Christmas this year after President Rodrigo Duterte and Mayor Inday Sara Duterte gave P50,000 bonus to their staffs.

The President decided to raise the bonus of Malacañang employees after he was got informed that his daughter, Inday Sara gives a higher premium to Davao City hall employees.

Initially, Duterte said that Palace employees will only receive P40,000 bonus, but he changed his mind after he realized that Davao City Hall staff received a higher bonus.

“P30k papunta ng P40k ‘yan. Wow, huwag niyo akong kalimutan ah, maski ballpen na lang. Okay na ‘yan o kulang pa?”

He announced the good news during the Christmas tree lighting ceremony held in the Palace grounds.

“Sabi ni Inday bakit naman kayo, Maynila, National Capital (Region) P40k, ang bigay doon sa Davao P50k,” he said.

“So, hindi tayo magpalugi sa Davao. Sabi ko wala akong pakialam magnakaw ka na, dispakulhin mo ‘yang pera basta gawain mong P50k. It’s gonna be P50k. Okay na ‘yan,” Duterte added.

The President announced it several days after Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno said that employees working for government agencies generated savings will receive a cash incentive of not exceeding P25,000.

A doctor who works at the Ministry of Heath in Oman criticized former Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Satur Ocampo and ACT-Teachers party-list France Castro for trying to convince the people that they’re helping the Lumad people without any conditions.

In her post, Rolaiza Mimi Singayao wrote an open letter to Ocampo and Castro, questioning why the two known activists are treating the Indigenous people (IP) as toys that they can use for their propaganda.

She questioned the reasoning of the left leaders, saying that why the group of Ocampo didn’t inform the tribal leaders and the parents of the minor lumads that they’re trying to transport outside Davao Del Norte.

According to Singayao, if Ocampo really wanted to help the minor lumad, they should inform the government first and coordinate with them before doing their mission.

You can read her whole post below:

“ANONG MISYON?
ANONG AKALA NINYO SA MGA LUMAD, MGA LARUANG TRAK-TRAK NA KAKARAY-KARAYIN PARA SA INYONG PROPAGANDA?

Kung humingi ng tulong ang mga guro at mag aaral na mga Lumad dahil umano pinaaalis sila ng military sa kanilang eskwelahan, bakit sina dating BAYAN representative Satur Ocampo at Teachers ACT-Partylist representative France Castro lang ang ‘sasagip’ at ilululan ang hindi pa mabilang na mga menor de edad na kabataan sa 5 van na na alto ng mga kapulisan sa Talaingud, Davao Del Norte?

Bakit walang kasamang mga magulang o Tribal leaders ang mga batang mag-aaral? Saan ninyo sila dadalhin, Satur? May permiso ba ang komunidad , magulang o guardians? Pakita kayo ng signed waiver ng mga parents allowing you to take out their children from the school.

Informed at may DepEd representative ba? Nag report ba sa concerned gov’t authorities? Nakipag-coordinate o humingi ba ng alalay sina Satur sa LGU, DSWD, militar o kapulisan?

May inisyal na report na umaabot sa 70 church workers, guro at Lumad na mag aaral ang tinansport ni Satur at Castro. Patungo saan? Saan ninyo sila dadalhin?

Tinatrato ninyong tila laruang trak-trak ang mga kabataang Lumad. Karay-karayin kahit saan nyo nais? Gagamitin sa inyong propaganda?

Mga ginikanan, Datu ug elders, kuhaa inyong mga bata gikan sa kamot aning mga terorista! Pahilayo mo ana nila. (Mga magulang, Datu at elders kunin ninyo ang inyong mga anak sa kamay ng mga terorista! Lumayo kayo sa kanila).

Ma-u ning hangyu sa atu tanan nga tribu: Ayaw pagamit sa NDF, CPP-NPA ug sa ilang mga ‘legal’ nga NGOs.”

Several days ago, Ocampo and Castro have been arrested by the authorities for ‘illegally transporting’ minors without the consent of their parents and tribe leaders.

Even some tribal leaders expressed their disappointment to the camp of Ocampo, saying that they should inform the tribe first before transporting their members in other places.

Source:

Yesterday, former Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo and ACT-Teachers Partylist Rep. France Castro were detained by the authorities after they were spotted transporting several Lumad youths.

According to them, they were blocked by the members of Armed Forces of the Philippines and brought to the nearest police station.

They claimed that the cops illegally detained them as they admitted that they’re still searching for a case that can be filed against the camp of Ocampo.

Ocampo said that they only went to Sitio Igang, Barangay Palma Gil in Davao Del Norte to help the children who allegedly being persecuted and claimed that the military forcefully closed a Salugpungan learning center in the said place.

However, some indigenous Leaders belied the statement of Ocampo’s camp, saying that the Tribal heads requested the said learning centers to be closed because it was allegedly being used by CPP-NDF-NPA to brainwash young Lumads to fight against the government.

A video posted by Hukbo.com showing Datu Andigao Agay and Municipal Executive Tribal Chieftain Bae Pilar Libayao confronting the group of Ocampo.

They complained why the group of Ocampo brought the children along with them without the permission of the tribe, even they see nothing wrong with the situation during that day.

“Hindi man sila inano doon, bakit kunin ng hating gabi, anong problema? May giyera bang nangyari sa bundok?” Libayao told the group of Ocampo.

Datu Agay also told the activists not the transport the children along with them.

He said that the Lumad child already told him that they don’t really want to go to Salugpungan anymore.

“Kung bisaya man ang guro ninyo, yon lang ang dahil niyon yung mga bata iwan ninyo, dahil may sinabi na sila doon sa silaban na ayaw na nila sa school ninyo,” Agay told Ocampo’s group.

“Isipin niyo ma’am estudyante namin pinap*tay ninyo, mga datu pinap*tay ninyo, maraming datu na pin*tay ninyo, tuwing papasok kayo dito may giyera,”

In another interview, Agay also urged the public not to believe in the claims of Ocampo saying that the activists really tried to kidnap the Lumad children.

He also explained why they don’t really want the Lumad children to study at Salugpungan.

“Naintindihan ko na hindi pala mabuti ang ginagawa sa kilusan (NPA) ” he said.

On Thursday, Ocampo and Castro were charged for violation of Republic Act 7610 or the “Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act” for transporting 14 minors without the consent of their parents.

Satur Ocampo et al., waived their rights under Article 125 of the RPC.

They will no longer question the legality of their arrest and detention and they will remain under the custody of the PNP. They are given 10 days to file their counter affidavit.

A bail bond is set for 80k each. Currently, they are undergoing booking proceedings. After which, they will be brought back to Talaingod PNP for detention.

It seems that the social media team of Senator Grace Poe didn’t let the opportunity escape to promote their client by riding on the celebration held by the University of the Philippines for Fighting Maroons after the said basketball team reached finals.

Netizens noticed that after the Fighting Maroons won the match against Adamson University, hashtag #AtinNaPOEito dedicated to the new victory of UP quickly became a trending topic on Twitter.

However, instead of being received positively by the fans of Fighting Maroons, the Senator has been called out for allegedly using the victory of UP to promote herself in the upcoming 2019 Senatorial elections.

Netizen and NCAA Courtside Reporter Ceej Tantengco also shared her insight on how the #AtinNaPOEito hashtag quickly became viral on Twitter, saying that Poe paid for some team to make her trending on social media.

Tantengco showed some photos showing the several pages on Twitter which not posting anything about Grace Poe before suddenly used the hashtag #AtinNaPOEito.

Photo: Ceej Tangtengco

Here’s why I think #AtinNaPOEIto is a paid campaign:

1) After the first tweet on Poe’s original account, the next tweets are by “Hugot Quotes”-style accts—ALL posted within minutes of each other starting 10AM. (Screenshots with timestamp below.)

Here's why I think #AtinNaPOEIto is a paid campaign:

1) After the first tweet on Poe's original account, the next tweets are by "Hugot Quotes"-style accts—ALL posted within minutes of each other starting 10AM. (Screenshots with timestamp below.) pic.twitter.com/kBr3mvmfZu

— Ceej Tantengco (@ceejtheday) November 29, 2018

Second, Tantengco also showed some photos of suspicious Twitter users using the same hashtag, the said Twitter users are only posting about the Senator.

2) Here are screenshots of suspicious accounts—ones you could call bots or dummy accounts—sharing the content. On one account, the Poe-related tweet is the ONLY content. pic.twitter.com/DeggUT66jB

— Ceej Tantengco (@ceejtheday) November 29, 2018

Tantengco said that Grace Poe’s PR team tried to lure the Twitter users from sharing the political campaign of the Senator by using the victory of the Fighting Maroons for their own purpose.

She also slammed Poe and called her a traditional politician for using a cheap trick.

“Since the hashtag is attached to pro-UP posters & included with other pro-UP hashtags, people RT-ing may not even realize they’re sharing a political hashtag. This is a victory for the UP men’s basketball team and their supporters. Don’t bring your campaign into this. #TraPOE” Tentengco said.

3) Since the hashtag is attached to pro-UP posters & included with other pro-UP hashtags, people RT-ing may not even realize they're sharing a political hashtag.

This is a victory for the UP men's basketball team and their supporters. Don't bring your campaign into this. #TraPOE

— Ceej Tantengco (@ceejtheday) November 29, 2018

Netizen @HeJeMony even called the hashtag used by Poe as the “trashiest hashtag this week”.

#AtinNaPOEIto takes the trashiest hashtag for the week dmd luora. Cayetano didn't even go this low.

— J E M A R I E #UPFight (@HeJEMony) November 29, 2018

JP tanyag questioned why Senator Grace Poe is resorting to social media bots despite already being popular in the 2019 senatorial surveys.

“I mean if Grace Poe is leading the senatorial surveys, why resort on having bots to trend hashtags such as #AtinNaPOEIto.” he said.

I mean if Grace Poe is leading the senatorial surveys, why resort on having bots to trend hashtags such as #AtinNaPOEIto

— JP Tanyag (@dumidyeypee) November 29, 2018

Jeff Crisostomo, the chief of staff of Dinagat Islands Rep. Arlene Bag-ao, also slammed Poe for using the UP Victory for her campaign.

“The UP victory yesterday in the UAAP game belongs to the team and the entire University. Hindi para sa elektoral na kampanya ng isang kakandidato ang tagumpay na ito.” Crisostomo said.

#AtinNaPOEIto is trending with the help of Twitter accounts with huge follower bases—most likely paid.

The UP victory yesterday in the UAAP game belongs to the team and the entire University. Hindi para sa elektoral na kampanya ng isang kakandidato ang tagumpay na ito.

— Jeff Crisostomo (@jeffcrisostomo) November 29, 2018

Twitter page DigitallyManila criticized Poe for using that kind of PR campaign, saying that it reflects character as a person.

“You just don’t hijack a hash tag and make it part of your social media strategy, it is not only tacky but reflects on your character as a politician and as a person, and if you’re paying a socmed strategist, he is doing you more harm than good,” DigitallyManila wrote.

You just don't hijack a hash tag and make it part of your social media strategy, it is not only tacky but reflects on your character as a politician and as a person, and if you're paying a socmed strategist, he is doing you more harm than good @SenGracePOE #AtinNaPOEIto pic.twitter.com/fVh95Grk24

— DigitallyManila (@DigitallyManila) November 29, 2018

Netizen Krzy called Grace Poe “desperate” for making such attempts to lure the Fighting Maroon fans for her political campaign.

“This hashtag doesnt seem right to me. Im happy for UP for their finals appearance, but please, dont use this hype for you political agendas, this is ka-cheapan at its finest. So desperate. #AtinNaPOEIto” Krzy said.

This hashtag doesnt seem right to me. Im happy for UP for their finals appearance, but please, dont use this hype for you political agendas, this is ka-cheapan at its finest. So desperate. #AtinNaPOEIto

— KRZY (@krazy_maknae) November 29, 2018

Last year, Grace Poe expressed her opposition against using of bots on social media to condition the minds of the people.

“Fake news has become so pervasive through the use of bots and trolls that these fake accounts are able sway public opinion,” Grace Poe said.

Fake news has become so pervasive through the use of bots and trolls that these fake accounts are able sway public opinion

— GRACE POE (@SenGracePOE) October 4, 2017

Sen. Grace Poe camp is not yet giving a comment on the criticisms they received.