Senator Bam Aquino explains to the press why the third extension of martial law in Mindanao might be illegal.

During an ambush interview, Aquino believes that there’s should be an actual fight happening in Mindanao before the government can implement martial law.

“Kailangan may mangyari munang aktwal na bakbakan, hindi lang skirmishes,” Aquino said.

According to him, the 1987 constitution made the conditions to implement martial law stricter to avoid being misused by future leaders.

“So babalik tayo sa depinisyon ng konstitusyon, babalik ka rin doon sa ano ang hangarin ng constitutional commission who created the constituition.” he said.

“Ginawa talaga nilang mas strikto, nilagay nila yung ‘aktwal’ na salita para maging limitado talaga ang pag gamit ng martial law,” he added.

Despite these explanations, the opposition senators which includes him failed to block the third extension of martial law after receiving a mass support from both lower and upper house.

In his Twitter page, Aquino explained in a lengthy tweet why he wants the martial law in Mindanao to end.

According to him, the war in Marawi is already ended with a victory from the government, that’s why he believes that martial law should be removed now.

“Nagtagumpay na ang AFP sa gera ng Marawi laban sa Maute, kaya’t nararapat na tanggalin ang Martial law.” he said.

He believes that soldiers can do their job to secure the people even without martial law.

“Extraordinary Powers ang martial law, hindi ito pangkaraniwan o pang araw-araw. At kaya ng AFP na gawin ang kanilang trabaho kahit wala ito. Huwag dapat maging dependent sa martial law para gawin ang tungkulin at trabaho.”

Aquino also pointed out that if the priority of the government doesn’t need martial law to make it possible.

“Ang prayoridad na rehabilitasyon, good governance, long-term peace and order, development at pagtugis sa mga armadong elemento ay hindi nangangailangan ng martial law upang maipatupad. Kaya naman itong gawin dahil sa mandato ng AFP at sa natatamasang suporta mula sa gobyerno.” he said.

Since martial law in Mindanao was implemented by President Duterte, Aquino is already one of the senators who opposed it.

Some public utility vehicle (PUV) drivers in Cebu City were surprised after they saw that several members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) stopped them and they thought that they were called because they committed a violation.

However, they don’t know that there’s a surprise waiting for them.

This week, several members of the PNP held a special operation, not to arrest the erring drivers, but to make them remember that the Christmas day is already coming.

Netizen Julia Labor, an of the passenger of one of the PUV that being called by the authorities recorded the happy scene between the driver and the authorities.

At first, the driver quickly coordinated with the authorities and easily give his license to them, however, he doesn’t know that the cops are going to give him some food packages that he can use to celebrate Christmas.

They even sing a Christmas song for the driver while they’re giving the gifts to him.

As of writing the video already reached 2 million views on Facebook.

Another gift-giving operation has been captured by the netizens and uploaded it on Facebook.

Facebook page The Philippine News uploaded a video of cops trying to stop the vehicles passing on them.

Some of the cops in the video even acted like they’re serious in trying to confiscate the licenses of the PUV drivers, however, in the end, they tried to calm the situation and informed them that they’re just doing a gift-giving.

The operation in the second video was headed by Police Station 10 PCINSP. Keith Andaya with Police Advisory Council.

Since martial law and suspension of the writ of habeas corpus has been implemented in Mindanao, militant groups from especially from Luzon and Visayas expressed organized many rallies against it.

And for the third time, the said groups and some critics of the Duterte administration who’s not living in Mindanao tried to block the martial law implementation in the said island, while the Mindanaoans expressed their support to it.

One Mindanaoan netizen couldn’t stop herself from criticizing the people of Luzon and Visayas for opposing the martial law in Mindanao despite without experiencing the mess happening in Mindanao personally.

Cheeny Kee (@KeeCheen) captured the attention of the netizens because of her tweet against the people who opposed the martial law extension.

In her tweet, she questioned why the people of Luzon and Visayas opposed the martial law if they’re not living in the southern part of the Philippines in the first place.

She also said that if they can just switch position and let the rebel groups wreak havoc in Luzon and Visayas.

“Kaming taga Mindanao suportado ang MArtial Law Kayong taga Luzon andami nyong drama mas apektado pa kayo. Baliktarin kaya natin? Lipat namin sa inyo Abusayaf, MILF, BIFF, MNLF, ISIS, MAUTE, NPA at etc Tapos kami mag rarally lang kunyare we care..” Cheeny Kee tweeted.

Kaming taga Mindanao suportado ang MArtial Law
Kayong taga Luzon andami nyong drama mas apektado pa kayo.
Baliktarin kaya natin?
Lipat namin sa inyo Abusayaf, MILF, BIFF, MNLF, ISIS, MAUTE, NPA at etc
Tapos kami mag rarally lang kunyare we care..

— Cheeny Kee (@KeeCheen) December 11, 2018

The tweet reached thousands of reactions from the netizens and it even reached Facebook.

Her post received praise from the supporters of the administration, saying that Cheeny only said that right thing.

“Taga Calabarzon (Luzon) ako at AGREE talaga ako sa Martial Law. sana buong bansa may martial law maliban sa Metro Manila (NCR). sila talaga yung tunay na kontrabida. e di sa kanila na lahat ng magulo. gusto nila magulo para hindi umangat ang bansa natin.” @Claud_lokohin said.

Taga Calabarzon (Luzon) ako at AGREE talaga ako sa Martial Law. sana buong bansa may martial law maliban sa Metro Manila (NCR). sila talaga yung tunay na kontrabida. e di sa kanila na lahat ng magulo. gusto nila magulo para hindi umangat ang bansa natin…

— 黄怡君✏???? (@claud_lokohin) December 12, 2018

“Dami nga putak at reklamo ang taga Manila di naman sila nakatira sa mindanao…kung di ba mga buang,utok bolinaw,” @emmadavao said.

Dami nga putak at reklamo ang taga Manila di naman sila nakatira sa mindanao…kung di ba mga buang,utok bolinaw

— Emma (@Emmadavao) December 12, 2018

However, the tweet of Cheeny Kee also made her engage in some debate with the anti-martial law netizens.

“So ikaw bawal ka ring magsalita tungkol sa Metro Manila ha. Hindi ka naman taga dito e. Ganun kat*nga ang logic mo.”

However, Cheeny Kee managed to burn the netizen who tried to oppose her post.

“So ang lagay kayo lang may right magsalita? If we say enough naabuso na ba rights nyo nun? Sh*t mas kat*ngahan naman ng logic mo” she responded.

So ang lagay kayo lang may right magsalita? If we say enough naabuso na ba rights nyo nun? Shit mas katangahan naman ng logic mo

— Cheeny Kee (@KeeCheen) December 12, 2018

Some even mentioned that there’s a ‘historical evidence’ of abuses during the martial law in the past, however, Kee insisted that the martial law in Mindanao so far different from its former implementation.

“historical evidence pero nde guarantee na mangyayari.. gong oo nabubuhay ka sa past. paranoid ka dahil sa “historical eviddence” mo na nababasa.. nangyayari ba sa kabuohan ng Mindanao yung historical evidence mo? Anong rights ba namin ang naalis dahil may ML? hmmmm” she told netizen @philosophist

historical evidence pero nde guarantee na mangyayari.. gong oo nabubuhay ka sa past. paranoid ka dahil sa "historical eviddence" mo na nababasa.. nangyayari ba sa kabuohan ng Mindanao yung historical evidence mo? Anong rights ba namin ang naalis dahil may ML? hmmmm

— Cheeny Kee (@KeeCheen) December 12, 2018

For the third time, the request of the Duterte administration to grant Mindanao it’s third martial law and suspension of the writ of habeas corpus received widespread support in both the lower and upper house.

Despite some casted doubt on the martial law, the 235 members of the lower house expressed their support to its third extension while only 28 lawmakers disagreed with the proposal of the government.

The third extension of martial law also received a support from the Senate after 12 senators voted in favor of Duterte’s request while five senators voted against it.

The following are the result of the voting for the upper house:

YES TO THE THIRD EXTENSION OF MARTIAL LAW IN MINDANAO

1. Senate President Vicente Sotto III
2.  Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri
3. Senators Gregorio Honasan II
4. Panfilo Lacson
5. Richard Gordon
6. Cynthia Villar
7.  Grace Poe
8. Aquilino Pimentel III
9. Jose Victor Ejercito
10. Juan Edgardo Angara
11. Sherwin Gatchalian
12. Manny Pacquiao

NO TO THE THIRD EXTENSION OF MARTIAL LAW IN MINDANAO

1. Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon
2. Francis Pangilinan
3.  Paolo Benigno Aquino
4. Risa Hontiveros
5. Francis Escudero

ABSTAINED

1. Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto

Both Senators who hailed from Mindanao Miguel Zubiri and Manny Pacquiao both supported the third extension of martial law, saying that the Mindanaoans feel safer than before of the presence of the soldiers.

“Walang problema sa Mindanao kung may extension ang martial law. Mas makabubuti nga sa amin. Positive ang reaction ng mga tao, hindi problema ang martial law,” Pacquaio said in a radio interview.

The recent briefing with the lawmakers and the top officials of Armed Forces of the Philippines helped the politicians to decide if Mindanao needed a Martial Law even despite the Marawi Siege was already over many months ago.

In his request, President Rodrigo Duterte mentioned that Abu Sayaff, Bansamoro Islamic Fighters, Daulah Islamiyah and other terr*rist groups are planning to do hostile activities.

However, some lawmakers like Senator Risa Hontiveros was not convinced that Mindanao still needs the martial law.

She also cast doubt that the third extension of martial law might be used by President Duterte to give his political allies a victory in the upcoming 2019 presidential elections.

“Ginamit ng diktador na si Ferdinand Marcos ang militar at ang dagdag na kapangyarihan nito para ipanalo ang kanyang mga kandidato at para patahimikin ang mga kritiko,” Hontiveros said in a statement.

Like in the past extensions, I find no cogent rationale for martial law that our existing legislation & the capacity of our military & police forces cannot address.

I VOTE NO. pic.twitter.com/J6JwJD3MZV

— risa hontiveros (@risahontiveros) December 12, 2018

Senator Bam Aquino also explained that he opposed the third extension of martial law because the government already won against the Maute group during the Marawi siege.

“Wala nang giyera sa Marawi at hindi natin kailangan ng Martial Law para tiyakin ang seguridad at pag-asenso ng Mindanao.”  Aquino said.

I vote NO to Martial Law Extension in Mindanao. Wala nang giyera sa Marawi at hindi natin kailangan ng Martial Law para tiyakin ang seguridad at pag-asenso ng Mindanao. pic.twitter.com/fXmA5KYs6D

— Bam Aquino (@bamaquino) December 12, 2018

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.