When Grandstanding Met the Power of the Purse and the Constitution Wept
By Louis ‘Barok‘ C. Biraogo — November 24, 2025
MGA ka-kweba, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, grab your popcorn and your Constitutions. Tonight we watch a neophyte senator turn a ₱6.5-billion budget hearing into his personal episode of Pera o Bayan: The Crucifixion Edition.
Scene of the Crime: November 21, 2025 — Senate Plenary Turns into Political SmackDown
Cast of this tragicomedy:
- Senator Rodante Marcoleta — self-appointed High Priest of Rule-of-Law Cosplay™
- Ombudsman Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla — currently hiding behind Gatchalian’s fax machine
- Senator Risa Hontiveros — the only one who actually read the Senate rules before coming to work
- Senator Sherwin Gatchalian — human damage-control PowerPoint
The Money Shot That Broke the Internet
Marcoleta leaps up and moves to suspend the rules (yes, during budget plenary) so Remulla can be dragged in to apologize for saying “yes” when Tulfo declared that sometimes you have to bend the law to make the masses clap.
Hontiveros swats it down. Gatchalian then reads the Ombudsman’s hostage video: “It was just a figure of speech! Boying loves the Supreme Court!”
Exhibit A: Yes, Remulla’s Mouth Deserves a Muzzle
That “yes” was a serious, reckless misstep — the kind of brain-fart that deserves its own Senate inquiry and a lifetime supply of duct tape for the Ombudsman’s mouth. The Ombudsman is the constitutional attack dog created by Article XI of the 1987 Constitution and armored by Republic Act No. 6770 (The Ombudsman Act of 1989) precisely so NO ONE can make him roll over. Nodding along to “bend the law for applause” is prosecutorial malpractice.
Verdict on Remulla: Guilty. Sentence: a signed, notarized retraction by tomorrow.
Exhibit B: Marcoleta’s Real Crime — Legislative Extortion in Broad Daylight
Marcoleta didn’t defend the rule of law; he weaponized the power of the purse to stage a public flogging. Holding ₱6.5 billion hostage until the Ombudsman grovels on live TV? That’s not oversight — that’s congressional thuggery in a barong.
The 1987 Constitution and RA 6770 made the Ombudsman removable only by impeachment for the explicit purpose of stopping exactly this nonsense. Even the ghost of Justice Laurel in Angara v. Electoral Commission (1936) is facepalming.
Final Verdict: Who Bent What?
- Remulla bent language. Fixable.
- Marcoleta bent the Senate, the budget process, and separation of powers into a pretzel.
Guess which one is the bigger threat to what’s left of our institutions.
Fix your tongue, Boying.
Fix your circus, Senate.
Barok, out.
(Mic drop so hard it cracks the marble floor of the Constitution.)
Key Citations
- Ombay, Giselle. “Marcoleta Seeks Apology from Ombudsman over ‘Bend the Law’ Remark.” GMA News Online, 21 Nov. 2025.
- The 1987 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines. Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines.
- Republic Act No. 6770: An Act Providing for the Functional and Structural Organization of the Office of the Ombudsman, and for Other Purposes [The Ombudsman Act of 1989]. 17 Nov. 1989.
- Republic Act No. 6713: Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees. 20 Feb. 1989.
- Angara v. Electoral Commission, G.R. No. L-45081, 63 Phil. 139 (1936). LawPhil Project.
- “Forthwith” to Farce: How the Senate is Killing Impeachment—And Why Enrile’s Right (Even If You Can’t Trust Him)
- “HINDI AKO NAG-RESIGN!”
- “I’m calling you from my new Globe SIM. Send load!”
- “Mahiya Naman Kayo!” Marcos’ Anti-Corruption Vow Faces a Flood of Doubt
- “Meow, I’m calling you from my new Globe SIM!”
- “PLUNDER IS OVERRATED”? TRY AGAIN — IT’S A CALCULATED KILL SHOT
- “Shimenet”: The Term That Broke the Internet and the Budget
- “We Did Not Yield”: Marcos’s Stand and the Soul of Filipino Sovereignty
- “We Gather Light to Scatter”: A Tribute to Edgardo Bautista Espiritu
- $150M for Kaufman to Spin a Sinking Narrative
- $2 Trillion by 2050? Manila’s Economic Fantasy Flimsier Than a Taho Cup
- $26 Short of Glory: The Philippines’ Economic Hunger Games Flop
KWEBA ni BAROK 
Leave a comment