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ABS-CBN: ICC upholds jurisdiction over Duterte case  

April 22, 2026

Katrina Domingo, reporting for ABS-CBN News;

The International Criminal Court (ICC) upheld its jurisdiction over the crimes against humanity case filed against former President Rodrigo Duterte after the tribunal’s Appeals Chamber on Wednesday junked petitions to halt proceedings against the Philippines’ 16th president.

In its April 22 decision, the Appeals Chamber ruled that while the Philippines withdrew from the Rome Statute in March 2019, preliminary examinations on the situation in the Philippines started in February 2018, a year before the Duterte administration sent a formal notice to pull back from the treaty governing the ICC.

A majority of the Appeals Chamber rejected all four grounds raised by the defense where it argued that the Pre-Trial Chamber had committed errors in law in ruling that the ICC has jurisdiction over the Duterte case.

Having rejected the appeal, it said the related request for Duterte’s immediate release is moot.

This is big… as in big that the Duterte camp needs to shift their strategy, since the court (ICC) has effectively removed the final major legal obstacle preventing the case from moving toward a full trial and the case has a high probability of going to a full trial.

Sen. Bato dela Rosa the “Top Senate Absentee”

April 9, 2026

Pie Gonzaga, reporting for Rolling Stone Philippines;

How much is a senator’s salary in the Philippines? The Compensation and Position Classification Act of 1989 assigns senators and congressmen a salary grade of 31. This means that they earn P293,191 to P334,059 per month.

The Senate president and House speaker are assigned a salary grade of 32, which puts their range at P347,888 to P398,686 monthly.

Let’s assume that Sen. Bato dela Rosa’s salary is Php293,191/month, and “July 28, 2025 to March 18, 2026” is 7 months and 18 days, that means that he earned roughly Php76,900 per session that he attended.

If this was in “any” University, you will need to drop the subject and if this is any corporation in the Philippines, tardiness is “ground for disciplinary action and up to termination” of employment.

Former Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile passed away at 101 years old

November 13, 2025

ABS-CBN News;

MANILA — Veteran politician Juan Ponce Enrile, a top aide of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and of the incumbent president’s father, has passed away.

He was 101 years old.

Enrile, who was being treated for pneumonia, died “peacefully” around 4 p.m., surrounded by his family in their home, said his daughter Katrina Ponce Enrile.

Here’s what JPE’s daughter, Katrina Enrile posted on her Facebook page.

Juan Ponce Enrile has lived a long and eventful life. To put his life into perspective, Juan Ponce Enrile lived thru 16 Philippine President, two World War and he served both Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. and Ferdinand “Bong Bong” Marcos Jr. as both became the President of the Philippines.

ICC charges Former President Rodrigo Duterte with 3 counts of murder with crimes against humanity

September 25, 2025

International Criminal Court (ICC) has charge Former President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte with 3 counts of murder with crimes against humanity, spanning from his time as the Mayor of Davao City until his time as the President of the Philippines.

BBC:

The first count laid against Mr Duterte concerns his alleged involvement in the killings of 19 people in Davao City between 2013 and 2016 while he was mayor there.

The other two charges relate to times when he was serving as president of the Philippines, between 2016 and 2022, and launched his so-called war on drugs.

The second count relates to the murders of 14 “high-value targets” across the country, while the third relates to the murder and attempted murder of 45 people in village clearance operations.

Now that the ICC has charged Duterte with murder, the ball is now in Duterte’s court, and the next course of action will be decided by his defense team.

You can read the full text of ICC’s charges here.

Rewatch the 4th State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.

July 30, 2025

President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. on Monday (July 28) delivered his fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA), tackling a wide range of issues including agriculture, education, transportation, peace, and corruption.

Sun Star published a great article summarizing everything that’s been tackled in the fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA) President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.

Anti-Political Dynasty Act filed at the House of Representatives

July 3, 2025

ACT Teachers Party List Representative Antonio Tinio and Kabataan Party List Representative Renee Co filed on Monday House Bill 209 or the proposed Anti-Political Dynasty Act.

ABS-CBN:

The measure defines “political dynasty” as a “family or clan that concentrates, consolidates, or perpetuates their political power by holding public office simultaneously or successively.”

Under the bill, “no person shall hold or run for any elective national or local office simultaneously with another within the fourth degree of consanguinity or affinity, whether legitimate or illegitimate, full or half blood.”

It also prohibits those within this degree of relationship to an incumbent elected official from immediately succeeding to the position.

If I’m not mistaken, similar bills have been filed before, and since the majority of political personalities are from ‘political dynasties/families,’ I doubt that this new bill will be more successful than the previously filed bills.

These are the Senatorial Candidates who made it to the “Magic 12” from National Certificate of Canvass (NCOC)

May 22, 2025

It’s official, below are the 12 Senatorial Candidates who are elected by the Filipino People to serve as the new Senators for the next 6 years.

  1. Sen. Bong Go – 27,121,073 votes
  2. Former senator Bam Aquino – 20,971,899 votes
  3. Sen. Ronald dela Rosa – 20,773,946 votes
  4. ACT-CIS party-list Rep. Erwin Tulfo – 17,118,881 votes
  5. Former senator Francis Pangilinan – 15,343,229
  6. SAGIP party-list Rep. Rodante Marcoleta – 15,250,723
  7. Former senator Panfilo Lacson – 15,106,111
  8. Former Senate president Vicente Sotto III – 14,832,996
  9. Sen. Pia Cayetano – 14,573,430
  10. Las Piñas City Rep. Camille Villar – 13,651,274
  11. Sen. Lito Lapid – 13,394,102
  12. Sen. Imee Marcos – 13,339,227

As for Party-list, the top five party-list groups are;

  1. Akbayan (2,779,621 votes)
  2. Duterte Youth (2,338,564)
  3. Tingog (1,822,708)
  4. 4Ps (1,469,571)
  5. ACT-CIS (1,239,930)
  6. Ako Bicol (1,073,119)

In an article on PNA, “The NBOC canvassed a total of 175 certificates of canvass (COCs), including from overseas — 58 on Tuesday, the first day of canvassing; 101 on Wednesday; and 16 COCs on Thursday. The poll body said the tally released is still subject to auditing.”

Latest Partial Results Senatorial Race for Election 2025

May 14, 2025

At 97.37% of Total Election Results Processed as of May 14, 2025, 2:12 PM, Philippine time, this is the latest results of “Senatorial Race for Election 2025”

Instead of the top 20, I’ll just list the top 15, since the top 10 have already seated for the position.

Rank Candidates Votes Percent
1 Bong Go (PDPLBN) 26,488,932 37.96%
2 Bam Aquino (KNP) 20,637,230 29.58%
3 Bato Dela Rosa (PDPLBN) 20,272,159 29.05%
4 Erwin Tulfo (LAKAS) 16,815,662 24.10%
5 Kiko Pangilinan (LP) 15,088,124 21.62%
6 Rodante Marcoleta (IND) 14,910,611 21.37%
7 Ping Lacson (IND) 14,857,131 21.29%
8 Tito Sotto (NPC) 14,596,610 20.92%
9 Pia Cayetano (NP) 14,306,916 20.50%
10 Camille Villar (NP) 13,360,070 19.15%
11 Lito Lapid (NPC) 13,121,188 18.81%
12 Imee R Marcos (NP) 13,037,96 18.69%
13 Ben Bitag Tulfo (IND) 11,886,773 17.04%
14 Ramon   “Bong” Revilla Jr.(LAKAS) 11,789,974 16.90%
15 Abby Binay (NPC) 11,569,910 16.58%

For the election results in the local level, please visit Rappler’s Election Homepage.

Source: COMELEC, Rappler

Partial Results Senatorial Race for Election 2025

May 13, 2025

80.26% precincts reporting as of May 13, 2025, 5:02 AM (PH local time). These are partial, unofficial results for the 2025 national and local elections based on data from the Comelec Media Server.

Before the end of the day tomorrow, May 13, 2025, Comelec will likely proclaim the winners for both the National and local level, since the election returns that have been received is at 98.42%, while the Overseas ERs is at 84.29%.

Rank Candidates Votes Percent
1 Bong Go (PDPLBN) 21,729,790 31.14%
2 Bam Aquino (KNP) 16,794,699 24.07%
3 Bato Dela Rosa (PDPLBN) 16,639,300 23.85%
4 Erwin Tulfo (LAKAS) 13,781,873 19.75%
5 Kiko Pangilinan (LP) 12,278,641 17.60%
6 Rodante Marcoleta (IND) 12,200,940 17.49%
7 Ping Lacson (IND) 12,116,320 17.37%
8 Tito Sotto (NPC) 11,909,561 17.07%
9 Pia Cayetano (NP) 11,684,846 16.75%
10 Camille Villar (NP) 10,997,784 15.76%
11 Lito Lapid (NPC) 10,793,298 15.47%
12 Imee R Marcos (NP) 10,697,840 15.33%
13 Ben Bitag Tulfo (IND) 9,722,361 13.93%
14 Ramon   “Bong” Revilla Jr.(LAKAS) 9,716,009 13.93%
15 Abby Binay (NPC) 9,476,986 13.58%
16 Benhur Abalos (PFP) 9,291,284 13.32%
17 Jimmy Bondoc (PDPLBN) 8,496,073 12.18%
18 Manny   “Pacman” (PFP) 8,383,304 12.01%
19 Phillip   “Ipe” Salvador (PDPLBN) 8,236,467 11.80%
20 Bosita Bonifacio   (IND) 7,834,722 11.23%

If you are closely monitoring the senatorial race, then you do not need to worry if your candidate is in the top 6 or even top 10, the last 3 or 2 position will determine if the candidate will have a seat at the Senate by the end of this election.

Source: COMELEC, Rappler

PhilHealth to abolish single confinement policy by end of September  

September 11, 2024

Kaycee Valmonte, writing for Rappler;

The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) will soon scrap its single confinement policy.

PhilHealth President Emmanuel Ledesma Jr. told a Senate panel on Tuesday, September 10, that they are committed to making the changes needed “before month-end.”

This is great news to all PhilHealth members.

This means that if a patient was confined due to diarrhea in September and had PhilHealth cover the expenses, the patient has to shoulder the fees if another bout of diarrhea strikes again in October.

Some patients were supposedly told to lie in order to have their hospital bills covered by the state insurer. A mother named Elena Abilar, through a video presented to the Senate panel, recounted her experience with the single confinement rule when her son had pneumonia and had to be hospitalized twice.

PhilHealth did not need to create the “Single confinement policy” in the first place.

These are the 12 new Senators for the 19th Congress

May 21, 2022

The Commission on Elections (Comelec), sitting as the National Board of Canvassers (NBOC), just officially named the 12 senatorial candidates who won a seat in the 19th Congress. The proclamation ceremony was held in Pasay City last Wednesday, May 18.

Here are the list of the 12 new Senators from 1st to 12th;
1st: Robin Padilla – 26,612,434
2nd: Loren Legarda – 24,264,969
3rd: Raffy Tulfo – 23,396,954
4th: Sherwin Gatchalian – 20,602,655
5th: Francis Escudero – 20,271,458
6th: Mark Villar – 19,475,592
7th: Alan Peter Cayetano – 19,295,314
8th: Juan Miguel Zubiri – 18,734,336
9th: Joel Villanueva – 18,486,034
10th: JV Ejercito – 15,841,858
11th: Risa Hontiveros – 15,420,807
12th: Jinggoy Estrada – 15,108,625

The new senators will serve for 6 years, from 2022 to 2028.

Source: Rappler

COMELEC says “only 533” VCMs were reported defective

May 9, 2022
COMELEC says “only 533” VCMs were reported defective

As of 7 p.m. Comelec says “only 533” VCMs were reported defective. This is what Comelec Commissioner Marlon Casquejo said regarding the reports that cites VCM are not working in a number of voting precinct.

The reported 533 VMCs are just a fraction of the 107,345 machines deployed by COMELEC for the 2022 elections, so far 97,345 VCMs have been used by the Comelec.

Source: Rappler

President Rodrigo Duterte to run for Senator instead

November 15, 2021

In another twist in the Philippine Politics, President Rodrigo Duterte has filed his candidacy for Senator, instead of Vice President, which was previously reported here.

With this new development, Sen. Bong Go who is running for President will be without a running mate. Both President Duterte and Sen. Go will be running under the Pederalismo ng Dugong Dakilang Samahan (PDDS) party.

President Duterte will substitute Mona Liza Visorde, who withdrew her candidacy at the Monday, November 15, 2021.

You can read the full report from ABS-CBN News.

VP Leni Robredo dances to Taylor Swift’s 22 amid all the election drama

November 14, 2021
VP Leni Robredo dances to Taylor Swift’s 22 amid all the election drama

In her tweet (above) that’s full of emojis and a 34 seconds video, it clearly shows that VP Robredo is unfazed with all the development that’s happening between Bongbong Marcos Jr. and Sara Duterte, and the refilling of Sen. Bong Go and Presidete R. Duterte, for President and Vice President, respectively.

We can see VP Leni Robredo and a number of her supporters dances to Taylor Swift’s 22.

At the sametime, a video of VP Robredo was published on her Youtube Channel regarding choosing the right candidate this coming National 2022 Election.

Ano man ang takot mo, huwag mangamba. Pwedeng pumiling muli. Piliin ang mahal ka. Piliin ang pipiliin ka.

#PumiliMuli
#LeniKiko2022

Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte to run for Vice President and will be the running mate of Bongbong Marcos Jr.

November 14, 2021

As if it was a twist in a movie, Davao Mayor Sara Duterte has filed her certificate of candidacy for the Vice President for the coming 2022 Election. She is the substitute candidate of Ms. Lyle Fernando Uy who filed to run for Vice President under Lakas-CMD party.

After filing her candidacy, Davao Mayor Sara Duterte will be an adopted/guest candidate of Bongbong Marcos Jr.’s Partido Federal and will serve as her running mate for the coming national election. The two candidate previously met in Cebu during the birthday celebration of Cong. Yedda, wife of House Majority Leader Martin Romualdez.

Both Ms. Anna Capela Velasco and Ms. Lyle Fernando Uy have withdraw their candidacy as Lakas-CMD President and Vice President, respectively, to give way to Sara Duterte’s VP bid.

You can read more about this on CNN Philippines – Sara Duterte runs for vice president in 2022 as substitute

President Rodrigo Duterte to run as the Vice President of Bong Go this coming 2022 Election

November 14, 2021

After announcing his retirement from Politics last October 2021, President Rodrigo Duterte will now run for Vice President and as the running mate of his longtime aide Sen. Bong Go, who withdrew his VP candidacy and refiled to run for President.

Both President Duterte and Sen Bong Go will be running under the Pederalismo ng Dugong Dakilang Samahan (PDDS) party due to the unresolved issue with PDP-Laban party.

You can read more from PTV.


Ely Buendia gifted Presidential candidate Leni Robredo with a Eraserheads 25th Anniversary Limited Edition on Vinyl

November 12, 2021

Eheads Frontman Ely Buendia visted and gifted Presidential candidate Leni Robredo with a limited edition of Eraserheads 25th Anniversary album on vinyl.

In a social media post, Vice President and Presidential candidate Leni Robredo shared a picture with Ely and the vinyl album, and said;

Ely Buendia in the house!! Grabe, nabulabog opisinaPartying facePartying face He gave me this Eraserheads 25th Anniversary Limited Edition on vinyl Musical score Multiple musical notes

Thank you, ElyFolded handsFolded hands Nakita mo kung gaano kadami fans mo sa office namin.

I embedded the tweet below;

If you can call, last September, Ely Buendia tweeted a possible “possible” Eheads reunion if Leni Robredo ran for office, as an answer to one of a fan question.

Now that VP Leni Robredo has officially filed her candidacy for highest position in the country, Eheads fans are still waiting for that much awaited Eheads reunion.

Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte joins Lakas-CMD party

November 11, 2021
Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte joins Lakas-CMD party
Image: @cnnphilippines

Just hours after resigning from Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HNP), Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte joins Lakas-CMD party and took oath today, November 11,2021 at 6:00 PM. The oath taking took place at the farm of Sen. Bong Revilla in Cavite.

Currently, Lakas-CMD Presidential candidate is Ms. Anna Capela Velasco and Ms. Lyle Fernando Uy for Vice President. The arrival of Sara Duterte, it she can substitute either Ms. Velasco or Ms. Uy to run for the two highest political position in the country.

You can read the full report from CNN Philippines – Sara Duterte resigns from HNP, joins Lakas-CMD

Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte resigned from her political party Hugpong ng Pagbabago

November 11, 2021
Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte resigned from her political party Hugpong ng Pagbabago

Just two days after withdrawing her candidacy for the reelection, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte resigned from the political part Hugpong ng Pagbabago.

In her two-sentence hand-written resignation letter, she said;

It is with profound sadness that I hereby tender my resignation from our beloved party.

My support will always be with you and I will always be grateful for all the things you have taught me.

Here’s the actual hand-written resignation letter as received by Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HNP), as shared by ANC Alerts;

What happens next will be all speculation, since she can join his father at PDP-Laban to substitute Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa as the Presidential candidate for the coming election or join Bongbong Marcos Jr. political party, Partido Federal ng Pilipinas to be his running mate as the Vice President.

Everything should be clear by Monday, November 15, the deadline of substitution of candidates for the coming national 2022 elections.

President Duterte approved the implementation of Alert Level System for COVID-19 Response for the whole country

November 11, 2021

President Duterte just signed Executive Order No. 151 (EO 151), which is the adoption of Alert Level System (ALS) for COVID-19 Response for the whole country.

In the EO, the rollout of ALS will be in 4 phases. The pilot areas where ALS is already implemented will be consider as the first phase and other regions will follow in the succeeding phase.

Here is the breakdown of the phases;
Phase 1 – NCR, Region 3, 4-A, 6, 7, 10 and 11
Phase 2 – Region 1, 8 and 12
Phase 3 – Region 2, 5 and 9
Phase 4 – Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), Region 4-B, Region 13 (CARAGA) and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM)

The shift to Phase 2 can be done anytime after the effectivity of the EO, as determined by Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases but will not be later than the end of the November 2021. The next phase will then take place every week until it covers the whole country.

The guideline for the implementations of ALS in Pilot area and its amendments will be approved by the IATF once the EO is in effect. For regions not under the ALS, Community Quarantine will still be implemented.

You can read the full text of Executive Order No. 151 below;

Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte withdraws candidacy for Mayor of Davao City

November 9, 2021
Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte withdraws candidacy for Mayor of Davao City

In a facebook post, Presidential daughter and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte confirmed that she will be withdrew her candidacy for Mayor of Davao City and said that her brother Sebastian Duterte, who is currently the Vice Mayor, will replace her to run as the new Mayor of Davao City.

She did not provide any reason as to why she withdrew her candidacy and there’s a speculation that she will be running for a much higher position this coming 2022 election.

It can be recalled that then Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte file his candidacy for reelection as Davao City mayor in October 2015 but withdrew his Mayor candidacy and filed as a substitute candidate for President instead.

Trillanes warns voters against Ferdinand Marcos Sr. for the “greatest robbery of a government”

October 27, 2021
Trillanes warns voters against Ferdinand Marcos Sr. for the “greatest robbery of a government”

In a tweet (embedded above), Former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV warns voters against the Marcos family and Ferdinand Marcos Sr. in particular for holding the “Greatest robbery of a Government.”

He added that “Don’t take my word for it. I-google nyo” referring to the conduct their own research regarding the issue.

In the Guinness World Records article;

The government of the Philippines announced on 23 Apr 1986 that it had succeeded in identifying $860.8 million (£569.5 million) salted away by the former President Ferdinand Edralin Marcos (1917–89) and his wife Imelda. The total national loss from November 1965 was believed to be $5–$10 billion.

Trillanes is running for Senator under the opposition standard-bearer Vice President Leni Robredo. He is also known as one of Duterte’s fierce critic even before he won he became the President of the country.

Sonny Matula is the 12th member of Leni Robredo’s senatorial lineup

October 24, 2021

After more than a week of waiting, Presidential candidate Leni Robredo announced that the 12th member of her senatorial lineup will be Sonny Matula of Labor Party Philippines.

Sonny Matula will be running as an independent candidate and will included among the guest candidate in Robredo’s senatorial slate.

Robredo’s senatorial lineup for the coming 2022 National Election will now compose of re-electionists, former opponents and long-time allies.

Here’s the complete list.

  1. Former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV
  2. Senator Risa Hontiveros
  3. Senator Leila de Lima
  4. Humanrights lawyer Jose Manuel ‘Chel’ Diokno
  5. Former Ifugao representative Teodoro Baguilat Jr.
  6. Alex Lacson of Kapatiran Party
  7. Senator Richard Gordon
  8. Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri
  9. Sorsogon Governor Francis “Chiz” Escudero
  10. Senator Joel Villanueva
  11. Former Vice President Jejomar Binay.
  12. Labor Leader Sonny Matula

You can watch Leni Robredo’s announcement and why she choose Matula as one of her senators;

Leni Robredo announces Senatorial lineup for the 2022 Election

October 15, 2021

Presidential candidate Leni Robredo just announced her 11 senatorial candidates for the coming 2022 election.

The lineup is a mixed-bag of personalities coming from different parties and political background.

  1. Former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV
  2. Senator Risa Hontiveros
  3. Senator Leila de Lima
  4. Humanrights lawyer Jose Manuel ‘Chel’ Diokno
  5. Former Ifugao representative Teodoro Baguilat Jr.
  6. Alex Lacson of Kapatiran Party
  7. Senator Richard Gordon
  8. Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri
  9. Sorsogon Governor Francis “Chiz” Escudero
  10. Senator Joel Villanueva
  11. Former Vice President Jejomar Binay.

Leni Robredo and her party is yet to announced their 12th candidate, who they are still ‘wooing’. The announcement was made with her Vice president aspirant Kiko Pangilinan and Senator Franklin Drilon, and streamed online.

Veteran Newscaster Noli De Castro withdraws Senate Candidacy

October 13, 2021

Seven days after filing his COC for senator, Veteran news anchor and former vice president Noli de Castro is withdrawing his candidacy for senator, this was confirmed by Aksyon Demokratiko chairman Ernest Ramel.

It’s unclear why ‘Kabayan’ Noli de Castro pulled out of the senate race but De Castro said “serve Filipinos better by continuing to work in the news industry, rather than in politics.”

You can read his full statement at ABS-CBN News website – READ: Kabayan Noli De Castro statement on withdrawal of candidacy

Here’s the statement of ABS-CBN News;