r/Philippines

Late February 2017, Ellen posted on Instagram showing her and Baste chilling late at night. They were slurring their words, barely holding their heads up, and Baste was holding a sleek electronic device.

Within hours, people ripped the video, and someone re-uploaded it to YouTube with the title "Ellen Adarna at Baste Duterte SABOG NA SABOG!", and it blew up overnight.

These were what people back then were saying online:

- Half the comments were like, "Tol, hindi lasing yan.
Iba yung titig ng bangag sa marijuana/shabu/cocaine."

- People were zooming in on Baste's hand instead, claiming he was holding a dry-herb vaporizer.

- r/Philippines had a field day with the sheer irony of Rodrigo Duterte's son getting caught up in a drug rumor.

Ellen Adarna posted a clarification saying it was purely
"bangag sa alak" (blackout drunk). She also had to explain that the weird device Baste was holding was just an IQOS (a Japanese heat-not-burn tobacco device), not a weed pen. She famously added:
"Alangan naman mag-post ako na ganun [illegal drugs/, eh anak pa ng Pangulo."

Baste Duterte posted a picture of himself smoking a regular cigarette with a sarcastic caption mocking the netizens: "Sige, sabihin niyo marijuana din 'to."

This is why we are having lag right now

From BNC -- The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) has been coordinating with relevant government agencies and private telecommunications companies to determine whether a Chinese research vessel capable of cutting subsea cables had operated near critical undersea cable routes off Batanes province.

PCG spokesperson Rear Adm. Jay Tarriela said authorities were pinpointing the exact locations of subsea cables in the area and comparing them with the foreign vessel’s movements after it was spotted about 37 nautical miles off Itbayat town where it stayed for several days before being challenged by PCG personnel.

He said the effort was aimed at determining whether the Chinese research vessel Jiang Hai Ke 7 had operated near any cable infrastructure and whether its presence in the area was related to the cables.

“There are a lot of subsea cables up north that connect the Philippines and other areas. So we would like to believe that the presence of the Chinese research vessel there has something to do with it,” Tarriela said in an interview on Bilyonaryo News Channel’s “At The Forefront” program on Friday.

He said the privately owned vessel had the capability to install and cut subsea cables, making its presence near the Philippines’ undersea cable infrastructure a matter of concern.

Tarriela stressed, however, that authorities still needed to establish whether the vessel’s activities brought it near any of the cable routes.

The PCG earlier deployed the BRP Teresa Magbanua after a Coast Guard aircraft detected the Chinese research vessel during a maritime domain awareness flight.

The PCG later moved to disrupt the unauthorized marine scientific research after determining that the vessel did not have the necessary authorization from the Philippine government.

Tarriela said the BRP Teresa Magbanua remained deployed in the area to ensure that the Chinese research vessel and the China Coast Guard ship accompanying it would leave the Philippine waters.

“As we speak right now, BRP Teresa Magbanua remains to be in the vicinity. We wanted to really make sure that this Chinese research vessel together with her bodyguard 2503 to leave the waters in Batanes,” he said.

Source: https://bnc.bilyonaryo.com/pcg-telcos-map-undersea-cables-after-chinese-vessel-sighting-off-batanes/n

Tourism Philippines (@tourismphilippines) recently posted a slide deck titled "Meet the SEAblings" to promote our hosting of the ASEAN Summit.

​The slides introduce each ASEAN nation with iconic titles or global claims.

However, as the host country saved for the very last slide, the Philippines was described as:

​"The Philippines is the Pearl of the Orient. We are known for having the world's longest Christmas season."

​I love our Christmas traditions, but reading through all the slides expecting a strong grand finale for the host nation, ending on "longest Christmas season" felt a bit anticlimactic for an official tourism/ASEAN post.

Huli pa nila nilagay ang pilipinas, ako naman binasa lahat para exciting tapos ganon? yun na yun? Wala na bang ibang nakakaproud sa Pinas?

Senator Loren Legarda apparently has a way back to the Senate majority after telling Senator Panfilo Lacson that she made a mistake in siding with the minority bloc led by Senator Alan Peter Cayetano.

Lacson said Saturday that Legarda had reached out to him and expressed regret over her decision, even lamenting that Senate President Pro Tempore Vicente Sotto III was no longer responding to her messages.

“Yun huling usap namin, na nagkamali raw siya. Sabi ko, kalimutan mo na yun. Tapos na yun,” Lacson said in an interview on DWIZ.

For Lacson, there are no hard feelings.

“Welcome naman namin siya na bumalik,” he said.

Legarda joined the Cayetano-led minority following the latest Senate leadership realignment but has since been on medical leave abroad due to a reported lung condition.

Lacson said he had encouraged Legarda to return to the Philippines if her health permits, although he stressed that the decision was ultimately hers.

“Kung kaya ng health niya, I would suggest na bumalik na dito. At the end of the day, sarili niyang decision yan,” he said.

His remarks come after Legarda spokesperson Tony La Viña said the senator remained open to rejoining the majority, describing shifting alliances as part of the normal political dynamics in the chamber.

A Legarda comeback could have implications beyond Senate factional politics.

Her absence has figured in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, where senator-judges voted to calculate the two-thirds threshold for conviction based on participating members rather than the full 24-member Senate.

Legarda has been on medical leave since Aug. 3.

Her absence also coincided with reports of a preliminary Ombudsman investigation involving her and her son, Batangas Rep. Leandro Leviste, over allegations surrounding a multibillion-peso solar energy transaction.

https://politiko.com.ph/lorens-lament-ping-lacson-says-legarda-regrets-alliance-with-alan-cayetano/

Sa sobrang adik ni ogag sa scatter, pinatay niya yung pinsan niya nong hindi pinahiram. Sobrang lala. Nakakaiyak sa dulo. Panoorin niyo kung paanong parang silent epidemic na tong sugal sa Pilipinas. Sa sobrang ka-adikan, lulong sa utang. Yung iba, kaya pa pumatay.

One way or another, talagang Duterte fvcked this country up. Pati itong mga DDS na to na todo defend sa China, mahiya kayo sa sarili niyo. Kaya Thank you talaga sa inyo, Duterte and DDS cults! Dahil sa inyo, silent epidemic na ang sugal sa Pilipinas https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbp9iFiOP1I&t=1138s

PCIJ: NEW DPWH FORMULA?

PCIJ reviewed the proposed 2027 Department of Public Works and Highways funding for every legislative district and found that 12 districts were each allocated exactly P500 million.

What do they have in common? Their representatives either voted against impeaching Vice President Sara Duterte or did not take part in the vote last May.

Overall, 34 of the 46 legislators who did not back the impeachment saw their districts' funding cut, putting them among the 50 lowest-funded districts for public works.

👉 Read the full story: https://pcij.org/2026/10/04/no-pork-for-romualdez-sara-supporters/

NOTE: The proposed allocation per legislative district covers all programs of the Department of Public Works and Highways. District representatives do not have discretion over all these projects.

[supprimé]

Kurt Bryan Barbosa wins silver in the men’s -58kg kyorugi at the 2026 Asian Games, adding an Asian Games medal to his decorated taekwondo career.

The 27-year-old Tokyo Olympian won SEA Games gold in 2019, 2021, and 2023 before taking bronze in 2025. He has competed internationally in both the -54kg and -58kg divisions.

Barbosa represented the Philippines at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where he competed in the men’s -58kg category. He now reaches the Asian Games podium in the same weight class.

Tachiana Keizha Mangin wins silver in the women’s -49kg kyorugi at the 2026 Asian Games, earning an Asian Games medal in the event.

The 18-year-old is the 2024 World Taekwondo Junior Champion, where she made history as the first Filipina to win a world junior taekwondo title. She also won gold in the same -49kg division at the 2025 SEA Games in her senior SEA Games debut.

Mangin has been competing internationally since her youth and has previously won medals at the World and Asian Championships. She now adds an Asian Games silver to her growing international résumé.