BUILT ON SAND: WHAT POLITICS, BRIDGES, AND SURVEYS HAVE IN COMMON

 

Three headlines. Three different worlds. One unsettling thread.

“With Singson Out, Erice Says ICI ‘Is Now Dead’” — Manila Bulletin

“Bridge In Kalinga Collapses After Days of Rain” — GMA News

“VP Sara Duterte Top Contender for President In 2028: WR Numero Survey” — One News

What ties these stories together?

One word: foundation—or the lack of it.

Whether in institutions, infrastructure, or public trust, everything eventually rises or falls on what lies beneath. And in the Philippines today, what’s beneath is starting to show.

Let’s walk through these three cases—not as isolated news bits, but as symptoms of one national condition.

Weak Institutional Foundations: The ICI That Couldn’t Bite

Former ICI Commissioner Rogelio Singson’s resignation said it plainly: 

“ICI, as it is today, does not have enough powers to execute as quickly as we can what we need to do.”

That single line is a full autopsy report. A watchdog with no teeth cannot protect anything.

It took 48 days before the broader public finally grasped what I wrote earlier in A Tale of Two Investigations: Why ICI Must Go & Ombudsman Must Lead. I argued then:

“If ICI can’t inspire fear—or even respect—then it’s not a watchdog. It’s a lapdog.”

And true enough, the headline that followed stripped the pretense bare: 

“Paolo Duterte Won’t Appear Before ICI: No Jurisdiction Over Me.” — Inquirer

How can truth prevail if power can simply say, “You can’t touch me”?

In that same piece, I wrote:

“Let’s stop pretending it’s working. Let’s stop pouring hope into a vessel that leaks… The public isn’t just angry. We’re exhausted. We want thunder. We want truth. We want justice that doesn’t flinch.”

When the foundation of accountability is weak, corruption doesn’t tremble—it thrives.

Weak Structural Foundations: Bridges That Fall Like Metaphors

Foundation failure is not just a governance metaphor; it’s literally breaking our bridges.

The Makilo Bailey Bridge in Kalinga collapsed after days of rain—cutting off a lifeline between Kalinga and Bontoc. The usual suspect? Hydraulic scour: erosion around the bridge’s base. In short: the foundation was eaten away.

It hits close to home for me. As a civil engineering student, I nearly failed my Foundations class—something I still joke about with my wife, my college sweetheart then. She always rolls her eyes and says, “Oy, don’t blame me.”

But the recent collapses are no joke:

• The P1.225B Cabagan-Sta. Maria Bridge in Isabela lasted only 26 days.
• The Pittagan Bridge in Cagayan also gave way.
• Records show six more bridges collapsed between 2022 and 2024.

DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon has since ordered stricter monitoring—but monitoring cannot fix what corruption has already hollowed out.

Collapsed Cabagan-Sta. Maria bridge in Isabela

As I wrote in Elephant In The Room: Corruption And Isabela Bridge Collapse, Baguio City Mayor Magalong revealed the brutal math:

When as much as 70% of government project funds are siphoned away before a single work is laid, only a meager 30% remains for the actual bridge. And with such a frail portion left to bear the weight, what kind of foundation and structure could ever hope to stand? The consequences are predictable:

1. Substandard construction

2. Inflated costs

3. Delays and dangerous shortcuts

And so, bridges fall—not only from rain, but from rot.

Weak Democratic Foundations: Surveys Built On Sand

Then come the political headlines that shot across social media:

“VP Sara Duterte Top Contender For President In 2028 — WR Numero”

“Marcos Satisfaction Rating Falls To Its Lowest Since Taking Office — WR Numero”

Published on the same day. By the same outfit. A perfect pair—too perfect, some say. But the deeper question: Do surveys themselves have solid foundations?

In my piece Kalye Surveys: Here They Come, I pointed out a hard truth:

“The dirty little secret of surveys is that many are junk science—designed more to sell a story than tell the truth. Statistical methods are often misused giving flawed results an air of scientific legitimacy.” (From Surveys and the Dirty Little Secret: Hidden Distortion, Bias, Illusion of Scientific Validity)

With polling’s global black eye—including the misses of the 2016 and 2020 U.S. elections—some critics now say bluntly:

• modern polling is broken, and

• pollsters and surveys sellers should simply be ignored.

In the U.S., RealClearPolitics cushions the damage by averaging the top ten surveys from a crowded field of pollsters.

Here in the Philippines, we throw all our eggs into the tiny basket of a handful of kalye survey outfits. No wonder filmmaker Darryl Yap could only shrug and say, “We are just stupid… I don’t care, I don’t get offended when people say, ‘O, nabudol ka.’”

Rigoberto Tiglao minced no words in his column: 

“Our pollsters have become cheap, shameful propagandists… They ask questions people don’t fully understand, crafted in ways that lead to the answers they want.”

A democracy built on manipulated perception is like a house built on sand. It may look sturdy—until the storm comes.

The Storm Test That Never Lies

Early one morning, as I sat in quiet reflection on Matthew 7:24-26, a vivid image appeared on my laptop: two houses weathering a storm, each standing upon a different foundation.

One built on rock. One built on sand. Only one survived.

It reminded me that nations are no different 

A house is only as strong as what lies beneath.

So is a bridge.

So is a survey.

So is a government.

So is a democracy.

So is the Philippines

And unless we fix our foundations—our institutions, our accountability systems, our public works, our truth-telling mechanisms—storms will keep coming, and collapses will keep repeating.

At the end of the day:

A nation, like a home, is only as strong—or as weak—as its foundation.

Content and editing put together in collaboration with ChatGPT

Head photo courtesy of Adobe Stock & Canva

Still photos courtesy of Bing image creator, Philstar, & Adobe Stock

THE SONG REMAINS THE SAME: PEBBLES IN THE SHOE OF SENIOR DIGNITY

Ripples Amid the Storm

Like a small ripple in the middle of stormy ocean waves, this article is published today at the height of the Trillion Peso March—a time when the nation is consumed by outrage over massive corruption, with trillions of pesos lost to greed and bad governance.

The headlines are filled with mountains to climb: colossal scandals, sweeping reforms, and grand calls for accountability. Everyone seems to be chasing something big.

And yet, life is not only about the big things. Sometimes, it is the little things that reveal the deepest truths—and hurt the most. Big things are never born whole; they are stitched together by countless small acts, each one carrying weight, each one pointing the way. 

That pebble is what tests patience, dignity, and resolve. For seniors like me, the pebble is not corruption in the billions, but the quiet humiliation at the pharmacy counter when a simple request for Vitamin C becomes a test of endurance.

The Pharmacy Counter: Where Pebbles Press Hardest

Yesterday, I felt that pebble once again. Before stepping out the door, I asked Bing, my AI-powered Co-pilot, a simple question:

“I am a senior in the Philippines. I will buy Vitamin C. Do I need a doctor’s prescription to avail myself of the 20% senior’s discount?”

The answer was clear: No. The FDA had already clarified that the discount applies to both prescription and non-prescription medicines, including vitamins and mineral supplements. Over-the-counter (OTC) drugs like Vitamin C do not require a prescription.

Armed with this assurance, I even took a photo of my laptop screen with my phone camera. Confident, I drove to Watsons.

And there, at the counter, the pebble pressed harder. The lady asked for a prescription. I explained the law, showed her the provision. She didn’t look. Instead, she called the manager. Soon, I was surrounded by staff, watched by other customers, with a security guard standing behind me.

The manager showed me a laminated notice: Drugstore May Limit Dispensing of OTCs from a Supply of One (1) Day to Maximum of Seven (7) Days.

The Same Pebble, Again and Again

This was not my first time. Months earlier, I had the same experience at South Star and Mercury Drug. Each time, the pebble was the same: managers closing the encounter with the refrain that they were “just employees following their employers.”

Yesterday, I thought something might have changed. I hoped for a different outcome. I was wrong. As Led Zeppelin’s song goes: The Song Remains the Same. And so does the pebble.

Between Promise and Pebble

Here lies the insult. Seniors are old and often tired. This benefit, meant to ease our burdens, in effect compels us to go out again and again—every day or every week—just to buy vitamins like Vitamin C. The rule assumes we might hoard or misuse the discount, as if our intent were selfish. But what it really does is degrade us.

Pebbles as Tests of Integrity

With just over 9 million seniors in a nation of nearly 120 million Filipinos, this issue of the senior citizen discount may appear to some a mere drop in the bucket. A minor inconvenience, a small pebble. But small pebbles are never trivial when they touch human dignity.

The Bible reminds us in Luke 16:10:

“Whoever can be trusted in small matters can be trusted in great ones, but whoever is dishonest in small matters will also be dishonest in great ones.” 

This is more than scripture—it is a test of leadership, a measure of integrity. If those in power cannot be faithful in the little things—like ensuring seniors can buy their vitamins without humiliation—how can they be trusted with great things, like safeguarding trillions of pesos or steering the nation’s future?

The senior discount is only a small pebble compared to the ocean of corruption scandals.

For seniors, every denied benefit, every needless trip to the pharmacy, every laminated notice is not just policy—it is a lived reminder of whether society values their remaining years.

So let this small matter be a mirror. If we cannot honor our elders in the little things, then our promises in the big things ring hollow. Reform must begin not only in the grand halls of power but also at the humble pharmacy counter, where compassion meets regulation, and where dignity should never be discounted.

The song may remain the same today. But if we learn to remove the pebbles from our shoes, perhaps tomorrow, the nation will finally change the tune.

Content & editing put together in collaboration with Bing Microsoft AI-powered Co-pilot

Head photo courtesy of Bing creator image, What Goes On Wildwood NJ, UPROXX, Facebook, Variety; design by Canva

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QUO VADIS, PHILIPPINES? WE CRUCIFIED THE TRUTH—THEN CROWNED THE LIE

 

Three days before the May 9, 2022 presidential election, I warned that this was not a political contest, but a spiritual battle. Many shrugged, rolled their eyes, and said, “That’s naïve.”

Naïve? Look around us now.

According to the Philippine Institute for Development Studies and various watchdogs, the country loses at least P700 billion to P1.4 trillion annually to corruption across all levels of government—from procurement and ghost projects to bribery, smuggling, and political patronage.

This is the price for our arrogance.

The Question We Are Too Cowardly to Ask

Why would God allow the Light of Asia to be governed by leaders who mock Him and the Pope himself, spit on truth, steal with impunity, and weaponized lies?

Scripture answers without blinking:

“[God] punished His people by handing them over to their attackers…” (2 Kings 17:20)

“When God judges a nation, He gives them wicked rulers.” — John Calvin

Cardinal Sin said Marcos Sr. was judgment. Well, congratulations, Philippines. This time, we asked for his son.

Why judgment? Because we abandoned the poor. Because we worshipped charisma over character. Because we traded discernment for TikTok edits.

As if God were saying: “If this is the poison you want, drink it.”

Before May 9, 2022: A Heaven-Sent Test We Flunked Miserably

Two questions hovered over our nation:

1. Would God show mercy?

2. Would the Filipino people finally humble themselves?

Instead of humility, we persisted on pride. Instead of prayer, we elevated propaganda. Instead of repentance, we chose revisionism.

God did not blind us. We blinded ourselves.

The Moral Rot We Pretended Was “Fake News”

You don’t need to be a theologian to see corruption. You don’t need a PhD to smell decent. But somehow, millions of Filipinos suddenly became allergic to truth.

You cannot claim to love God and applaud corruption. You cannot claim patriotism and reward theft. You cannot reject evil when you vote for its beneficiaries.

Let’s stop pretending: We weren’t deceived. We were willing participants.

Two Destinies—We Walked into the Worst One.

Scenario 1: If We Chose Repentance

We could have exorcized the Marcos curse. We could have broken the Duterte’s governance circus. We could have restored dignity to public office.

Scenario 2: If We Chose Arrogance

We would vote for the dictator’s son and convince ourselves we were being “practical.” We would baptize deceit, normalize robbery, and romanticize tyranny.

And on May 9, 2022 presidential election, we did exactly that. We weren’t nabudol. We revealed exactly who we are. The Philippines chose judgment.

Philippines, Do You Know Where You’re Going To?

Where are we dragging ourselves? We are not marching toward progress. We are stumbling backward into the same pit our grandparents escaped. We are repeating history like addicts returning to their poison.

This national suffering is not random. It is spiritual mirror held to our faces.

One could almost hear God saying: “This is what happens when you choose lies over truth. Look at it. Own it. Then decide if you want to stay here.”

The Prodigal Nation (Yes, That’s Us)

The prodigal son didn’t change because he suddenly became wise. He changed because hunger beat the stupidity out of him.

We are the prodigal son in the pigsty. We squandered democracy. We kissed the feet of strongmen. We swallowed propaganda like candy.

And now famine has come: Economic crunch. Moral drought. Truth bankruptcy.

A Second Chance—But It Won’t Be Cheap

There is noise online—a possible special election, and a brewing storm for 2028. But second chances are not handed out like freebies. They demand repentance. They demand courage. They demand breaking the cycle we have defended for decades.

God is shaking the Philippines violently because gentle whispers did not work on us anymore.

Will God Give Us Another Leni?

Only God knows.

Leni herself is not a messiah; she never claimed to be. But she became, for many, a symbol—of what righteousness can look like in public service, of how quiet integrity can stand tall against noisy corruption, and of how goodness can still inspire a nation battered by cynicism.

But here is the more brutal truth:

God can send us another righteous leader—but if we are still in love with lies, we will crucify that divine offering again.

The problem is not the absence of good leaders. The problem is the absence of a morally awake people.

We do not suffer from a leadership crisis. We suffer from a discernment crisis, a memory crisis, and—let us stop denying it—a spiritual crisis.

A Filipino Sisyphus Story

We suffer from a discernment crisis because we keep mistaking the familiar for the good, the charismatic for the righteous. We suffer from a memory crisis because we forget too quickly—our wounds fade, and our oppressors return in polished form.

And yes, we suffer from a spiritual crisis, because we have grown accustomed to darkness and learned to negotiate with it.

It is the Filipino Sisyphus story in real time: we push the stone of our national hope up the mountain—only to let it roll back down through our own complacency, our own forgetfulness, our own refusal to confront evil for what it is.

Until we learn discernment, remember truth, and heal spiritually, we will keep repeating Sisyphus’ curse—forever struggling, forever starting over, forever wondering why the summit never arrives.

Final Warning

We got a punisher because we insisted on one. The suffering we feel today is the echo of our own vote.

But judgment is not the last chapter—unless we decide to stay in it. God stands at the door of mercy, but He will not drag us through it.

The next move is ours. Return—or repent. Repent—or rot. Wake up—or sink deeper.

Where to?

Forward to mercy—or back to bondage?

Content & editing put together in collaboration with ChatGPT

Head collage photos courtesy of ChatGPT image creator, iStock, & design by Canva

Still photos courtesy of Facebook, Pexels, Politiko, Friedrich Naumann Foundation, UBC Arts - The University of British Columbia, Nikkei Asia, Time Magazine, Philstar, Miscellaneous Ramblings, Adobe Stock, & ChatGPT image creator.

A FLY IN THE OINTMENT: IGLESIA NI CRISTO RALLY WITHOUT REPENTANCE

 

Scanning the headlines on Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC) rally at Quirino Grandstand, I noticed a curious omission. Authorities insist the gathering is religious, not political, and the coverage echoes the line.

But nowhere did I find the word that heals, the word that humbles, the word I sought with spiritual eyes: repentance. Without it, prayers rise like smoke but never reach heaven. Without it, rallies become pageants, ointments spoiled by the fly of hypocrisy.

There’s a saying that lingers like a warning whispered through history: There’s a fly in the ointment. The ointment is meant to heal, to soothe, to restore. But what happens when something small and overlooked spoils the whole?

As the INC stages its rally for Transparency and a Better Democracy, I cannot help but see the ointment— and the fly buzzing within it.

White Shirts Without Sackcloth

As I looked at those images—thousands dressed in white, filling the streets—I couldn’t help but think of purity, of unity, of a nation hoping to cleanse itself. The rally’s banner words certainly sound noble: transparency, democracy, accountability.

But as those thoughts settled, another image rose from Scripture: the call to sackcloth and ashes—those old symbols of humility, confession, and broken hearts laid bare before God.

It brought me back to Jeremiah’s time, when Judah was drowning in idolatry, injustice, and corruption. God’s invitation was strikingly tender:

“Return, faithless Israel… I will not look on you in anger, for I am merciful.” (Jeremiah 3:12)

Many resisted, of course, but the prophetic voice kept pressing for national repentance. That has always been the rhythm of God’s dealings with His people—justice that never stands alone, always joined by His longing for their return.

And that’s what made the present scene feel oddly incomplete. Here, the crowd wears white, yet no confessions rise from the ground. The rally becomes a kind of pageant of purity, but without the substance of repentance. It’s like displaying a jar of fragrant ointment while quietly ignoring the small fly floating inside—unseen, but spoiling the scent all the same.

Which leads to the uneasy question: How can the Iglesia Ni Cristo—claiming to be a Christian church—call for transparency while refusing to confront its own complicity through repentance?

Finger-pointing and Three Fingers Back

Reading the rally’s slogans, I noticed how easily blame is cast outward—toward government corruption, toward projects gone wrong. Yet I could not forget INC’s own history.

In 2016, INC officially endorsed Rodrigo Duterte, the man who mocked God and whose presidency became a theater of violence and corruption. In 2022, INC threw its weight behind the UniTeam of Bongbong Marcos and Sara Duterte.

These were not neutral choices but Faustian bargains, aligning with leaders now at the crux of the corruption malaise.

Storms as Divine Mirror

As I reflected on the recent typhoons, floods, and earthquakes, I could not help but see them as mirrors. Nature itself seems to expose the rot of governance, tearing away the veneer of power. The disasters are not only calamities but providential reminders: corruption has consequences, and storms reveal what slogans cannot hide.

Our leaders, providentially, have been unmasked by storms: super typhoons tearing roofs from homes, floods drowning cities, earthquakes shaking foundations. Nature itself has become a mirror, reflecting the corruption that festers in the nation’s halls of power.

Scripture and Providence

In my reading, Romans 13:1-2 echoed like a sober refrain in the background:

“Let every person be subordinated to the higher authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been established by God.”

It’s a difficult passage—one that forces us to wrestle with the uncomfortable truth that leadership—even flawed leadership—can be part of God’s mysterious design.

Scripture itself doesn’t shy away from this tension. In 2 Kings 17:20, we’re told that God “punished [His people] by delivering them to their attackers.” John Calvin sharpened the point even more.

Cardinal Sin affirmed that very line of thought, holding up Marcos Sr. and the dark years of Martial Law as Exhibit A. And if that principle still stands, perhaps we must confront the sobering possibility that God has allowed the Philippines to be chastened again through the leaders we have today.

Whether Duterte or Marcos, their rise is not mere accident. They may well be instruments of divine providence—sometimes to bless, sometimes to discipline. And so, this old saying by Thomas Jefferson hits harder than we like to admit.

The Missing Ingredient: Repentance

This is why, as I read the rally’s declarations, I kept waiting for one word to surface—repentance. But it never did. An anti-corruption rally without repentance feels like a prayer without confession: words reaching for heaven but never touching the heart. Transparency must begin in humility, not performance. Without repentance, the ointment remains spoiled no matter how brightly we parade it.

From Flies to Healing

So where does that leave us? What stance should the people take amid this tangled dilemma? Certainly not selective outrage, and not rallies that point outward while refusing to look inward.

The real path forward is repentance—both personal and communal. Only when we acknowledge our own sins, our compromises, our quiet accommodations with power, can transparency and democracy rise from mere slogans to lived realities.

And that brings me back to the fly in the ointment. It must be named. it must be confessed: “Nabudol ako. I voted for Marcos and Duterte.” Only then can the ointment heal. Only then can we hope for God to give us leaders in the future who are not curses but blessings.

Perhaps if repentance begins not in grandstands but within hearts—if sackcloth and ashes take the place of hollow white shirts; if storms are understood not merely as disasters but as divine mirrors—then, maybe, the government we deserve may one day resemble the government we truly need.

Content and editing put together in collaboration with Bing Microsoft AI-powered Co-pilot

Head collage photos courtesy of Inquirer, Philippine News, ABS-CBN, Global Times, The Atlantic, & istock; design by Canva

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WHEN THE STONES CRY OUT: WHY SENATOR BATO MUST FACE THE ICC

I was scrolling through Facebook one night when a post caught my eye—a strange photo of a pile of stones with the caption: Can you figure what it says?

The image looked like an optical illusion. Some people said it made them dizzy. Others, after staring long enough, finally saw the hidden words:

“The stones will cry out.”

I paused.

Something about that line hit me deep—especially in these days when the name Bato once again dominates the headlines.

A Nation Waiting for Accountability

Senator Ronald Bato Dela Rosa, once the fierce general who spearheaded former President Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody war on drugs, now finds himself facing the very shadow of international justice. Reports say the International Criminal Court (ICC) may have issued a warrant for his arrest for crimes against humanity. Whether confirmed or not, it has thrown the country into a moral crossroad.

And here’s the hard truth: if that warrant is real, the Philippines must cooperate. And Bato—if he truly stands by his word—must face the ICC.

The Social Cost of Hiding

If Bato chooses to hide—especially under the Senate’s protective umbrella—it sends a devastating message: that power shields those who commit grave abuses. It would crush what little hope the victims’ families still hold, and embolden others to repeat the same cruelty.

Impunity breeds more blood. And when justice is mocked, the nation’s moral core weakens. That’s when anger festers into unrest.

The Political Fallout

The world is watching.

If our government shrugs off the ICC’s call, we risk being seen as a nation allergic to accountability. Countries that once treated us as partners might turn away. Isolation isn’t just diplomatic—it’s moral. How can we claim to uphold democracy if we refuse to answer for the blood spilled in its name?

The Economic Consequences

Investors read not just market charts but moral signals. No one wants to pour money into a country seen as indifferent to human rights. A damaged reputation means fewer partnerships, fewer exports, fewer jobs. Even industries built by honest laborers can suffer from the sins of those who played god with other people' lives.

Bato’s game of hide-and-seek with the ICC would not just be a political theater—it would be a reckless move that would risk deepening our already fragile economy.

The Personal Reckoning

Back in March, Bato spoke with bravado: 

“I am ready to join the old man (Duterte) hoping that they would allow me to take care of him." 

Those weren’t just words—they were a declaration of loyalty, of word of honor. But now, that word is being tested.

The Duterte Diehard Supporters, who once chanted his name, are watching closely. If he turns his back on that vow, they might start to see him differently—not as the loyal warrior, but as the man who ran when the real battle for truth began.

The Spiritual Dimension

And that brings me back to those stones: The stone will cry out.

In Luke 19:40, Jesus says these words as He enters Jerusalem, when the crowd is silenced by fear and oppression. It’s a prophecy—that truth, no matter how buried, finds its own voice.

Could it be that Bato himself—whose name literally means stone—is being called to cry out? To speak the truth not just for himself, but for the countless voiceless who perished under the banner of his war?

Bato once admitted in an interview:

“I am afraid of going to jail. Takot ako na makulong dahil kawawa ang mga apo ko at hindi ko na makikita.”

But perhaps that fear is where redemption begins. It foreshadows Proverbs 9:10: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”

If he truly loves his grandchildren, he must tell the truth. Because real freedom doesn’t come from escaping prison—it comes from facing the truth.

When Truth Finally Speaks

History has a strange way of surfacing what people try to bury. The cries of the slain, the tears of mothers, the silence of fear—all these are the stones beginning to cry out.

And maybe that’s the real message for Bato and for us all: when the stones start to speak, it’s not too late to listen—and to answer with truth.

Justice, however, delayed, will always find a voice.

And this time, that voice might just sound like the breaking of a heart that has finally chosen to tell the truth.

Content & editing put together in collaboration with ChatGPT

Head photo courtesy of GMA Network; design by Canva

Still photos courtesy of Facebook, Kapwing, Freepik, Canva, getrealpundit, Bulatlat, & Instagram

POLITICS PAYS: HOW EXCESS CAMPAIGN FUNDS QUIETLY CREATE MILLIONAIRES

(Before we begin, a quiet word for those grieving in Cebu. The recent flooding has claimed lives and displaced families, a tragedy that reminds us of the urgent needs often drowned out by headlines. As we reflect on power and privilege, may we also hold space for those whose suffering calls for solidarity, not silence.)

 

Who wants to be a multimillionaire?

Join politics—not necessarily for its infamous corruption scandals, but for a quieter, more "legitimate" menu: leftover campaign contributions. No need for kickbacks or ghost projects. Just a wildly successful campaign, a few generous donors, and voila—your SALN might just sing a billion-peso tune.

That’s the tune that stunned the public when the SALNs were released. Senator Raffy Tulfo and his wife, Rep. Jocelyn Tulfo, declared a combined net worth of P1.05 billion. Instantly, earning the senator a new monicker: The Silent Billionaire. And the silence? It wasn’t just about the money. It was about the how.

The Billionaire Who Spoke for the Poor

Raffy Tulfo has long been known as the voice of the aggrieved—the everyman’s broadcaster, the YouTube crusader who took on abusive employers, negligent officials, and cheating spouses with equal fervor. His rise to the Senate was powered not by political pedigree, but by populist appeal. He was, in many ways, the anti-elite.

So, when his SALN revealed a P1.05 billion net worth, the public reaction was swift and sharp:

“Problem is, his organization is nonprofit. How the heck was he able to accumulate a lot of money kung ang pondo daw ay binibigay sa charity? Something smells fishy.”

“Dami nakuhang padulas niyan… yung mga nirereklamo ng taumbayan kakausapin muna hihingan ng suhol para di ilabas yung issue.”

“Ganun ba talaga kalaki kitaan sa social media that it can make someone a billionaire?”

“YouTube nya estimate ko nasa 7-8m pesos per month. Don’t believe yung mga estimate sa socialblade or viewstats, based yun sa US. Pag ang viewers nasa Pilipinas, sobrang baba.”

“Alam ko na mayaman sila pero honestly never ko na inaasahan na billionaire sila. Pang ilan ba sila sa mga list ng top tax payer kahit para sa mga celebrities?”

“He is also a journalist. But yeah, imposibleng maging billionaire ang isang journalist/YouTuber even if may billion subscribers and views pa sya. I read somewhere before na Southeast Asia ang may pinakamababang rates when it comes to ad revenue sa YouTube.”

A Clue from an Old Interview

An old interview between Jessica Soho and Isko Moreno may offer a clue. In it, Isko candidly admitted that he had P50 million in leftover campaign funds—money pooled from donors, declared as income. When asked where the money was, he replied simply: “Nasa akin.”

Jessica Soho (JS): Sa report ng Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, nagbayad kayo ng tax na P9.7 million para sa income P50.5 million. Clarification lang po. Yon po bang P50.5 million na yon is the same P50 million na na-save po ninyo from your campaign contributions?

Isko Moreno (IM): Yes, because I had to pay taxes, kapag may natira sa kampanya dahil yon namay pooled account, pooled money, ibat-ibang tao, you have to declare, tapos kapag yon ay nasa iyo na, ay kailangan mo magbayad ng buwis, which is yon ang ginawa ko.

JS: Pero tama po ba na nasa income nyo po yon?

IM: Yon ang sinasabi ng BIR. Kailangan mo kasi, hawak-hawak mo ang pera. Limited ang gastusin mo sa kampanya. Sumobra ang donation mo. So tangan-tangan mo yong pera. Kailangan ka magbayad ng buwis. At yon ay lumalabas na income mo.

JS: Nasaan na po yong pera?

IM: Nasa akin.

JS: Income. Part of your income. Wala ho bang violation doon?

IM: As long na nagbabayad ka ng buwis.

Then-Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said that there’s no rule mandating the candidate to return the excess funds to the donor.

Then-Comelec Spokesperson James Jimenez

In the U.S., the Federal Election Commission has strict rules about what federal candidates can and can’t do with leftover campaign money. The candidates can’t pocket it for personal use. The rules were based on a study that showed a third of Congress personally kept and spent millions in campaign donations. Congress was embarrassed and consequently passed a law against this custom.

So, If Isko could walk away with P50 million in leftovers, what more a topnotcher like Tulfo—whose campaign was backed by a massive media machine, millions of followers, and likely, donors with deep pockets and vested interests?

The Loophole That Whispers

This isn’t about proving wrongdoing. It’s about asking the right questions.

Should candidates be allowed to keep unspent campaign funds?

Should SALNs include a breakdown of campaign-related income?

Should we, as citizen, normalize multimillion, more so, billion-peso net worth among public servants without asking how?

Tulfo isn’t alone. Most senators are multimillionaires. The Senate, it seems, is less a chamber of public service and more a club of the quietly wealthy. And in a country where millions live paycheck to paycheck, and half of the Filipino families consider themselves as poor, that silence is deafening.

What We Choose to Hear

The Silent Billionaire label may have been meant to provoke. But it also invites reflection. Silence, after all, is not always absence. Sometimes, it’s strategy. Sometimes, it’s complicity.

And sometimes, it’s the sound of a system working exactly as designed.

So, the next time we hear a politician speak of sacrifice, transparency, or public trust, let’s listen closely—not just to what is said, but to what is left unsaid.

Last year, my wife and I were gifted a vacation in Belgium by a dear couple—our children’s former nanny and her Belgian hubby. One evening, as we sat around the dinner table, our host gently pointed to the food we hadn’t finished. It was a dish too exotic for our Pinoy taste, unfamiliar and rich.

“Remember the poor in your country,” he said with a smile, tongue-in-cheek but not without weight.

That moment stayed with me. Because in a nation where poverty is not just persistent but pervasive, it’s not merely the leftovers on our plates that should trouble us. It’s the leftovers in campaign coffers—unspent, unreturned, and quietly repurposed—transforming public servants into private millionaires while public remains hungry for accountability.

Content & editing put together in collaboration with Bing Microsoft Ai-powered Co-pilot

Head collage photos courtesy of Bing image creator, Linkedin, Pixabay; design by Canva

Still photos courtesy of Philstar, YouTube, Saksi Ngayon. Rappler, & Pexels

THE BLOOD OF MY SON: HOW REMULLA'S SECOND LIFE SHAKES THE DUTERTE LEGACY

 

You’ve just survived the storm—five arteries bypassed, and your heart stitched back to life. You lie tethered to tubes, dreaming of home, when a voice pierces the quiet:

“You have cancer.”

And suddenly, the valley deepens.

Time doesn’t stop. It splinters.

The sterile white walls blur. The rhythmic beeping of machines—once a lullaby of survival—now sounds like a countdown. Having just endured a surgery that rerouted the very rivers of your heart, you were supposed to be healing. You were supposed to be getting home.

But now, your blood itself had betrayed you.

Leukemia. A word that tastes metallic. A diagnosis that feels like a second fall—just as you were learning to stand again.

You lie there—not as a public servant, not as a father, not as a man of titles—but as a soul stripped bare. The body is weary. The spirit is cracked.

And yet, somewhere in the silence, a whisper rises:

Just live by the day.

It is not resignation. It is revelation.

Each morning becomes a sacrament. Each breath, a borrowed grace. Chemotherapy follows. Radiation scorches.

And then, the miracle—your own son offers his marrow, his lifeblood, to save yours. You wake one day with his blood flowing through your veins.

You are no longer just yourself.

You are a living testament to love, to lineage, to something deeper than medicine.

There are stories that do not shout their holiness, but whisper it—gently, steadily—until the soul cannot help but listen.

Ombudsman Crispin Remulla’s recent testimony is one such story. Not because it was dramatic—though it was. Not because it was miraculous—though it may well be.

But because it bore the unmistakable scent of grace: unearned, unexplained, and quietly transformative.

“Just live by the day,” he said.

A phrase so simple it might be missed—unless one has walked through the valley of the shadow. Unless one has lain on the edge of breath, tethered to tubes and prayers, and awakened not to certainty, but to surrender.

It echoes Matthew 6:34— “Do not worry about tomorrow…”—not as a verse to be quoted, but as a truth to be lived.

One heartbeat at a time.

And then, the confession:

“Maybe I still have something more to do.”

Not a boast. Not even a declaration. Just a wondering—a holy hesitation. The kind that often precedes a calling.

In the language of faith, we call this a second wind, a second chance, a divine assignment.

But perhaps it is even more elemental than that, to be given back to the world, not as we were, but as we are now—humbled, emptied, and strangely filled.

Not with ambition, but with availability that whispers,

Here I am, Lord.

Remulla’s recovery—marked by a quintuple bypass, leukemia, and a bone marrow transplant from his own son—is not just a medical marvel.

It is a parable.

A man receives new blood, literally, from his child.

He rises, not with the strength of his own body, but with the life of another flowing through him.

If that is not a picture of grace—of Christ—of the Gospel itself—what is?

He did not say: God gave me a mission.

But he did say, “Maybe I still have something more to do.”

And in that maybe, we hear the stirring of vocation.

Not the loud kind that comes with titles and applause, but the quiet kind that comes with breath and burden.

The kind that wakes you in the morning and says:

You’re still here. So, love. So, serve. So, speak.

There are still problems, he admits. Still challenges. But he will keep going—not because the path is easy, but because the call is real.

Picture this: Remulla’s family, relatives, and friends read his miraculous story. They rejoice—not just for his survival, but for the strange, sacred arc of it all.

The father who received the blood of his son now walks with a quieter strength, a deeper resolve.

In their eyes, he is no longer merely a public figure.

He is a living parable.

A man who descended into the valley of death and rose—not with vengeance, but with vision.

They gather around him, not just in celebration, but in consecration. For what he carries now is not just a second chance, but a second wind.

And they know: this time, he is not just returning to office.

He is returning with fire.

Now picture this: his enemies read the same story.

They could be cowering—not at the man, but at the mystery.

How does one fight a man who has already died once?

How does one silence a voice that speaks from the other side of suffering?

Remulla’s recovery is not just medical—it is mystical.

His enemies may scoff, but they cannot ignore the timing.

The man they thought was politically buried has emerged with a shovel—and he’s digging.

To rewind: Ombudsman Remulla now stands as the protagonist in a civic drama that could reshape the contours of the country’s political landscape.

He reopens the Pharmally case.

He orders the release of long-withheld SALNs.

He pokes at cases others tiptoe around—Vice President Sara Duterte, Senator Bong Go.

He clashes with former Ombudsman Martires over a “secret decision” reversing the dismissal of Senator Joel Villanueva.

He pries open the Pandora’s box of extrajudicial killings.

The Ombudman’s office, once quiet, now rumbles with battle cries.

The whole shebang takes aim at the Duterte brand.

And so, the irony sharpens.

The former President once mocked the divine with a chilling line:

“Who is this stupid God?”

But now, the man leading the charge bears the name Jesus—not in jest, not in blasphemy, but in eerie, poetic symmetry.

Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla—reborn, yet still bearing the marks of affliction—may appear to the Dutertes as weak

But in that weakness lies a mystery they may fail to discern:

“My power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9)

What they see as fragility may, in time, shake them to the core.

For what rises before them is not a preacher in sandals, but a prosecutor with summons.

Not a sermon, but a reckoning.

Not wrath, but righteousness.

What a serendipity that his first name happens to be Jesus.

And what a journey it has been—marked by blood not his own, breath hard-won, and a burden no longer resisted but embraced.

Here stands a man who does not merely count his days, but consecrates them.

He walks not just in recovery, but in response—to a summon greater than survival.

Not simply to return, but to restore.

Not merely to endure, but to embody redemption.

Content & editing put together in collaboration with Bing Microsoft AI-powered Co-pilot

Head collage photos courtesy of Historiador and Time; design by Canva

Still photos courtesy of Adobe Stock, Dreamstime.com, Stock cake, Shutterstock, iStock, Pond5, Freepik, Peakpx, & GMA News