Padilla was asking if it was appropriate for an American Navy plane to be present in the West Philippine Sea, the source of conflict between the Philippines and China, when it was the PCG and the CCG going head to head.
What Padilla got wrong – and seemingly refused to believe – was that China’s structure was different. The CCG, since 2018, has been under China’s Central Military Commission. It used to be under Beijing’s State Oceanic Administration.
“‘Wag natin ibahin ang international law… ang coast guard ay civilian in nature, police nga yan eh… sinasabi po ba natin na ang coast guard ng China ay hindi civilian in nature?” Padilla had asked just moments prior.
Maritime expert lawyer Jay Batongbacal would tell Padilla and the rest of the hearing that no such international law to define a coast guard exists. Senator Ronald dela Rosa, despite Batongbacal’s explanation, would later insist that it was a “universally accepted concept” that coast guards are civilian forces.
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To be clear, when I say “defend him” I’m referring to misinformation, to the point of being prejudiced.
Like when people say “walang ginagawa” that’s obviously false. When they say bobo siya because he pushes for legalese and government documents to be equally available in Filipino as much as English — tama naman siya. That even extends to plenary sessions. If, say Faisal, becomes a legislator, hindi niya maipaglalaban ng maayos mga adhikain niya just because his first and second languages aren’t English. Lav Diaz’s Norte even has a scene that shows why this is problematic.
Someone even said na anti-divorce daw siya — when he filed a bill that’s better than Hontiveros’ version. I’ve even heard people point out that his haircut isn’t becoming of a senator (false, there’s literally a blog page showing politicians with undercuts) and that’s just being pedantic.
Or when you have this TikTok video implying that he’s sucking up to Pia so she would go easy on him during interpolations — when that’s part of a longer exchange wherein they were casually discussing sending IG photos to each other, and the bill in question was National Hijab Day that they’re both aligned with and therefore he has no grilling to be afraid of (and indeed it never happened).
Yes, he has plenty of gaffes (this thread being an egregious example), and those deserves the scorn it gets. But most of the time, people are just being bitter Nancy’s.