On Sunday, I thought we had just passed a turbulent week, both in the Homeland and elsewhere, with Senate and House committee hearings on an alleged Chinese spy, a leaked drug report from a former PDEA agent that involves the President, and an alleged “secret deal” on the West Philippine Sea, among others. But a new week opened on Monday with even more turbulence.
Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri, who has earned the ire of the powers-that-be for refusing to cooperate on a charter change and for allowing Sen. Ronald de la Rosa to open an inquiry on an alleged leak report tagging President Marcos in a drug list, resigned his top Senate post after hearing reports of an impending Senate coup. Immediately, Sen. Francis Escudero was elected to replace him as Senate president.
In a press conference after turning over the gavel to Escudero, Zubiri told reporters he was “heartbroken” but he saw it coming, adding that as early as Wednesday, he learned of a plot to remove him as Senate leader.
But what he learned later broke his heart even more. He said the biggest reason they want him out was that he allowed and defended De la Rosa’s right to investigate an alleged leak report by discredited and dismissed PDEA agent Jonathan Morales that alleged Marcos was in a list of PDEA drug users. The anti-drug agency denied the existence of the alleged report, but De la Rosa went on to let Morales testify. And then one day after he thanked De la Rosa for sticking it out with him during his resignation speech (during which De la Rosa was photographed in tears), he found out that De la Rosa was among the 15 senators who voted for his ouster.
Zubiri, however, can be happy with the fact that all his loyal allies resigned along with him from their key Senate posts and pledged to continue supporting him.
It may be worth mentioning that two days before the coup emerged, Marcos’ Partido Federalista ng Pilipinas (PFP) signed an alliance with Escudero’s Nationalist People’s Coalition, headed by former Senate President Tito Sotto, for the 2025 midterm elections.
And who else could be happier for the transfer of power? House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, who has been at odds with Zubiri over the Senate’s refusal to consider charter change proposals and other issues, said he is looking forward to the House’s partnership with the now Escudero-headed Senate.
Also during the week, China again caused a commotion among Philippine officials when it announced that it has mobilized the Chinese Coast Guard to detain “trespassers” in the South China Sea for up to 60 days without trial.
President Marcos was among the first to condemn China’s detention policy, calling it “unacceptable” and vowing to take measures to protect Filipino citizens.
An international maritime expert slammed the policy, saying it is indicative of China’s “expansionist ambitions.” “This new regulation has no ounce of legitimacy to it and merely emphasizes China’s expansionist ambitions,” said Don McLain Gill, lecturer at the De La Salle University’s Department of International Studies.
Sen. Risa Hontiveros, on the other hand, said the Philippines may be forced to sue China if it pushes through with its new rule of detaining foreigners deemed “illegally crossing” its borders without trial.
The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) dismissed Beijing’s directive to detain foreigners entering disputed areas in the South China Sea as a scare tactic to deter civilian missions.
China’s new detention policy came after a civilian convoy, led by the Atin Ito coalition, concluded its mission after successfully delivering food and other supplies to Filipino fishermen in Panatag Shoal despite a virtual naval blockade by Chinese vessels.
In apparent reaction to the Chinese detention threat, the Philippine Coast Guard deployed additional personnel and equipment in critical regions of then country to protect fishermen and improve maritime security.
In Congress, two inquiries are being conducted on matters that relate to China.
The Senate continues the investigation of Bamban Mayor Alice Guo, who Sen. Risa Hontiveros suspects is a spy working as an asset for the Chinese government. With all the mystery surrounding the young and basically unknown politician, the Department of Inyerior and Local Government recommended her preventive suspension.
But Mayor Guo insisted she is not a spy. On Monday, Guo categorically denied allegations that she is a spy but revealed that she is a household helper’s “love child”.
President Marcos said the Bamban mayor must be investigated, noting that she was virtually unknown in Tarlac and wondered how she was elected.
In response, the Office of the Solicitor General has formed a task force to investigate the whys and wherefores surrounding the suddenly controversial Bamban mayor.
The curious case of Alice Leal Guo has brought more questions than answers. But who really is Alice Guo? Two Rappler reporters went to Bamban, Tarlac and tried to find answers.
Meanwhile, the House committees on national defense and security and the committee on the West Philippine Sea started a joint inquiry on the alleged “secret deal” with China on conduct in the West Philippine Sea. Three former officials of the Duterte administration failed to comply with its invitation to appear on the first day of hearings on Monday. The panels ordered the three officials to explain their non-appearance.
The commander of the Western Command, Vice Admiral Alberto Carlos, who the Chinese embassy claimed was the person who supposedly “confirmed” a “new model” in a taped phone conversation, took a personal leave after the alleged recording was released. Yesterday, the AFP announced that Admiral Carlos is officially out as Westcom chief.
Another ongoing hearing that has drawn the curiosity of the public is the controversial hearing being conducted by Senator De la Rosa’s committee on the alleged leaked report by former PDEA agent Morales. After catching Morales in a web of lies, senators approved a motion of Sen. Jinggoy Estrada citing Morales for contempt and ordering his detention.
Although he had expressed confidence non the loyalty of the active officers of the AFP and the PNP, President Marcos nevertheless condemned “blatant attempts at destabilization” during the Philippine Military Academy’s Bagong Sinag Class of 2024 graduation ceremonies in Baguio on Saturday.
Earlier in the week, Marcos reminded newly promoted generals and flag officers of the Armed Forces to remain faithful to the Constitution and loyal to the country.
Elsewhere, International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Karim Khan has applied for arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas’s leader in Gaza for war crimes.
Meanwhile, Israel made a new push in central Gaza on Monday, bombarded towns in the north of the Strip and said it intended to broaden its military operation in Rafah despite U.S. warnings of the risk of mass casualties in the southern city.
Exposing a deep divide in Israel’s leadership, Benny Gantz, a popular centrist member of Israel’s three-member War Cabinet, threatened to resign from the government if it doesn’t adopt a new plan in three weeks’ time for the war in Gaza, a move that would leave Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu more reliant on his far-right allies.
In Ukraine, a new Russian offensive has clawed back miles of terrain near the key Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, but Western officials are hoping a surge of US weapons and Russia’s inability to coordinate its ground and air forces make a breakthrough unlikely.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin visited his ally Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, where they announced a new era of partnership between the two powers, while at the same time condemning the US, which they cast as an aggressive Cold War hegemon sowing chaos across the world.
Here in the United States, proceedings quickly devolved Thursday night during a House Oversight Committee markup on holding Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt, with GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Democratic Reps. Jasmine Crockett and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez getting briefly locked in a heated back and forth.
On the coming presidential elections, President Biden and former President Donald Trump has finally agreed to meet in two presidential debates, one in June and one in September.
Meanwhile, as Judge Juan Merchan issued gag orders against Donald Trump in his hush money trials, several key allies of the former president began trooping to the Manhattahn courthouse to show him support and speak to the public obviously on his behalf.
Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, finds the parade of GOP leaders appearing outside the New York City courthouse “a little embarrassing” and “demeaning.”
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