KathieEN

"Never cut a tree down in the wintertime. Never make a negative decision in the low time. Never make your most important decisions when you are in your worst moods. Wait. Be patient. The storm will pass. The spring will come." - Robert H. Schuller

JOINT STATEMENT ON THE SENATE MINORITY WALKOUT We strongly condemn what appears to be an attempt to rush a major change in the Senate Rules, especially when several members of the minority still wanted to speak and raise serious questions on the floor. Bakit kailangang madaliin? Bakit kailangang pigilan ang mga gustong magsalita? Bakit kailangang i-divide ang house kung marami pang senador ang nagtatanong tungkol sa proseso? Minamadali ba ang rule change na ito dahil gusto nilang maka boto si Senator Bato? At ngayong may mga ulat na may mga majority senators na maaaring arestuhin? We walked out because what happened on the floor looked less like orderly deliberation. The proposed rule change affects how senators may attend sessions, participate in proceedings and exercise their mandate through remote means, and such a measure should be opened to healthy public debate instead of being rushed by the tyranny of the majority. We have always welcomed healthy discussions on the floor, but this should mean allowing all members to be heard, not forcing the chamber to move at the speed preferred by the majority. At the time the motion was taken up, there was no duly constituted Committee on Rules and there was not even an elected Majority Leader who could properly guide a rules amendment through the regular process. How could there have been any action or discussion before the Committee on Rules when no Committee on Rules has been organized to date? With due respect, the answer that no Senate rule had been violated does not settle the matter, because the rules cannot be treated as a matter of convenience when the very process for amending them is under serious question. The timing raises a question that the public deserves to hear debated openly. Kaya pinili naming tumayo at iwan ang majority sa plenary. Kaya kami nagdesisyon to question the quorum and call for adjournment. If the proposal is truly defensible, then let it pass through the proper route. We owe it to the people who voted for us to do our mandate. This is why we want more time to discuss this further.

It is truly astounding to me how anyone can feel at our heat index, wade our floods, or even go outside in this weather and think we can afford to cut this many full grown trees. All for what, a new traffic chokepoint? Green spaces should be top priority in a radical redesign.

Revisiting beautiful tree-lined Roxas Boulevard during the 60s and 70s. Today, rows of trees are being killed along the iconic boulevard to build an expressway. All in the name of GREED.

Deforestation should be a crime punishable by death. SPECIALLY IN THE COUNTRY THAT BOILS EVERY SUMMER.

✨ PHILIPPINE GOLD ✨ Sometimes, the country’s greatest treasures grow quietly in the forest. In Masungi, a mature narra supports an entire web of life around it. Its roots help stabilize soil, its canopy cools the forest floor, and its branches provide shelter for birds, insects, and other wildlife. In landscapes rich in biodiversity, these quiet giants help keep ecosystems alive and connected — reminding us that some of the country’s greatest treasures are already growing around us. Sign the petition to relocate Vena Group’s wind project away from Masungi Georeserve and the Sierra Madre. 📌 For organizations: bit.ly/HOGV_Org 📌 For individuals: bit.ly/HOGV_Ind 📸 Renz Perez/MGFI

🌳 MANILA CAN’T BREATHE ON SEEDLINGS ALONE 🔥 600 mature trees lost today cannot be replaced overnight by promises for tomorrow. “Nature cannot be regarded as something separate from ourselves or as a mere setting in which we live.” — Laudato Si’, §139 Living Laudato Si’ Philippines expresses deep concern over the continued cutting of mature trees in Metro Manila in the name of infrastructure expansion and urban development. In a city already suffering from extreme heat, worsening floods, air pollution, traffic congestion, and shrinking public green spaces, the removal of hundreds of full-grown trees represents more than ecological loss. It is a climate justice, public health, and human dignity issue. The narrative that tens of thousands of seedlings can simply compensate for the destruction of mature urban trees dangerously misunderstands ecological integrity. Seedlings are future possibilities. Mature trees are present protection. Established trees already provide critical ecosystem services: cooling urban temperatures, absorbing floodwaters, filtering pollutants, storing carbon, reducing stress, supporting biodiversity, and creating more humane and livable public spaces. These functions cannot be immediately restored through compensatory planting programs that may take decades before reaching ecological maturity. As climate impacts intensify, urban trees must be recognized not as obstacles to development, but as essential living infrastructure for climate adaptation and resilience. A truly sustainable city cannot be measured solely by road widening, elevated expressways, or faster vehicle mobility while simultaneously making urban life hotter, harsher, and less walkable for ordinary citizens. Living Laudato Si’ Philippines likewise reiterates the urgent need to separate the DENR’s regulatory and environmental protection functions. Ecological protection should never compete with project approval within the same institutional framework. The future of Manila will not only be defined by what is built, but by what society chooses to protect. 🌿🏙️ #ProtectUrbanTrees #LaudatoSi #ClimateJustice

Metro Manila does not need anymore expressways. Metro Manila BADLY needs more train lines, a subway, and a unified bus/jeep system. Hindi kulang ang kalsada sa Maynila, connectivity at integration ang kulang kaya mas pipiliin pa rin ng mas nakakarami na magkotse.

When you cut down trees as thick as that, you can’t bring them back to life anymore. You can’t regrow them. It takes trees decades and centuries to grow to reach that girth. And older trees actually give off more oxygen than young ones. DENR needs to be audited.

A post circulating online is claiming that warrants from the International Criminal Court cannot be enforced in the Philippines. This is false. vera.ph/4nTqVgJ

@GemoraAudie THIS!!!

OPINION: May God, whose name Cayetano invokes so freely like a false prophet, make his Senate presidency the shortest ever. tinyurl.com/547vvx2v

Dapat mag-resign o tanggalin na sa pwesto yang trigger happy na Senate Sgt.-at-Arms na yan. He knows or ought to know na bawal ang warning shots sa rules of engagement. Inilagay niya sa peligro ang buhay ng maraming sibilyan.

@iamkarendavila the same idiot who had been HIDING for months just "chose to leave"?

“HE DID NOT ESCAPE, HE CHOSE TO LEAVE” With the senate leadership asserting it will only recognize warrants from PH courts, Sen Bato was able to leave the senate ‘freely’. SP Cayetano’s position, “PH’s legal system requires any foreign warrant to be validated by local courts before enforcement.” However, the DOJ & other lawmakers cite RA 9851, which allows cooperation or surrender of individuals to international tribunals under certain circumstances. For Former Sen Franklin Drilon & Atty Gilbert Andres, “Bato can already be arrested” Until the Supreme Court issues a ruling on pending petitions including whether PH agencies can legally enforce ICC warrants, this issue will remain legally and politically contentious. Your thoughts?

@ukinamshet accurate!

Trillanes: “Habang nandyan si Cayetano, maniwala kayo, gagawa at gagawa ng kalokohan yan. Very scheming na tao yan... malalaman mo na lang kapag namulat ka e naisahan ka na pala.” Trillanes dropping truth bombs after another in this podcast. 🔥🔥🔥 OUST ALAN PETER CAYETANO!

@PhilippineStar BUT GOD DOES NOT DOUBT ME ---- sure ka?

‘PEOPLE DOUBTED ME. BUT GOD DOES NOT DOUBT ME’ Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano vowed that he would do his best to fulfill his duty as the head of the upper chamber. “My whole life, people doubted me. But God does not doubt me. So I’ll do my best. If my best is good enough for everyone, thank you. If not, there are 23 other senators you can choose from,” he said in a press conference on Thursday. With 13-9 votes, 2 abstentions, Cayetano was elected as the new Senate President on Monday. (Video by Ryan Baldemor/The Philippine STAR) WATCH: youtube.com/live/tbzf3R4HJ…

@jcpunongbayan this president is a weakling!

- Senate leadership should have just surrendered Bato, if they really abide by rule of law - BBM should have decisively implemented ICC arrest warrant (like what happened with Digong under Gen Torre's watch) - SC should have denied the TRO outright to avoid confusion and delays

How did we get here? A horrendous Senate shooting that risked the lives of so many innocent civilians in the Senate halls? I'm no expert on these things but here are my 2 cents. Multiple layers of (ir)responsibility:

@SenImeeMarcos as if naman kagalang galang kayo! CHE!

Malinaw na pambabastos sa institusyon ng Senado ang nangyari, kawalan ng galang sa mga senador, at tahasang pang-aabuso sa kapangyarihan ng mga halang ang sikmura.

@wanakopake korekted by!

Kung buhay si Miriam, kakampi yan nina Alan Cayetano. Tama or tama?

39 years na walang ganitong gulo sa Senado. May mga senador na kinasuhan, sumuko, inaresto sa ilalim ng iba't-ibang liderato. Pero patuloy ang trabaho ng institusyon. Etong mga ito dalawang araw pa lang nakapwesto may nagpaputok na agad sa loob. 🙄