SC rejects TRO bid to preserve draft Senate Blue Ribbon report on flood control mess
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IN MET R MANILAO
By Rex Espiritu
VOL. XL • NO. 92 • 3 SECTIONS 12 PAGES MAY 17, 2026
THE Supreme Court has denied a petition for a temporary restraining order to keep the Senate and its Blue Ribbon Committee from altering or revising all versions of the draft committee report on its probe on flood control projects The High Court en banc rejected the petition by lawyers Eldrige Marvin Aceron, Sikini Labastilla, and Purificacion Bartolome-Bernabe for
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Senate refused subpoenas, request for CCTVs–Remulla But Aplasca says footages already turned over to PNP-CIDG By Rex Espiritu and Joel Zurbano
mandamus and certiorari to issue a TRO and/or status quo ante order to preserve the draft report. The SC instead directed Senator Panfilo Lacson, then Blue Ribbon chairman, and then committee members Senators Juan Miguel Zubiri, JV Ejercito and Sherwin Gatchalian, to comment on the petition within 15 days from receipt of the resolution. All Senate committee chairmanships and memberships are vacant Turn to A4
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HE Office of the Ombudsman is facing difficulty serving subpoenas to the Senate in connection with its investigation into a shooting incident inside the chamber this week. Speaking on DZRH’s “Executive Session” on Saturday, Ombudsman Jesus Cripin Remulla said process servers from his office were refused entry at the Senate and their documents were also refused despite prior notice related to a suspension order and ongoing fact-finding measures, including a request for the submission of CCTV footages. “Our process servers are facing a problem: The Senate won’t receive them,” Remulla said. The Ombudsman previously announced it was placing Senate security chief Mao Aplasco under preventive suspension without pay for six months for discharging his firearm that triggered the shooting incident in the Senate last Wednesday. “I don’t understand (the Senate’s refusal to accept the suspension and our request for the CCTV footages). But for me, that suspension is already considered served even if they refuse to accept it,” he said. Remulla said Aplasca’s admission that he was the first to fire a warning shot at NBI operatives was “unacceptable.” Aplasca, who hails from Davao, is a mistah or classmate of Dela Rosa in the Philippine Military Academy. As this developed, the Office of the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms denied reports there was no available CCTV footage covering the 2nd floor of the Senate complex where the shooting incident happened. “For the record, the CCTV system covering the concerned areas of the Senate premises was fully operational during the incident,” Aplasca said in a statement. Turn to A4
Pasay police deny escorting Sen. Dela Rosa out of Senate By Charles Dantes
VALEDICTORIAN. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. leads the commencement exercises of the Philippine Military Academy ’Talang Dangal’ Class of 2026 at Fort General Gregorio H. del Pilar in Baguio City on Saturday, May 16, 2026. Leading the graduates is Cadet First Class Christine Kaye Demisana Librada of Lipa City, Batangas – the ninth female cadet to top the Academy since 1993. She earned the Presidential Saber, Philippine Army Saber, JUSMAG Award, IT Plaque, and Australian Defence Best Overall Performance Award. She is set to be commissioned as a junior officer in the Philippine Army. PCO
PBBM to PMA grads: Remain loyal to the Constitution By Charles Dantes and Dexter See PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Saturday called on the 207 graduates of the Philippine Military Academy “Talang Dangal” Class of 2026 to rise above politics and remain steadfast in their loyalty to the Constitution and to the Filipino people.
Vice President Sara Duterte, in a video message, also called on the graduating cadets to remain steadfast in defending the country’s sovereignty and protecting the liberties of Filipinos. During the commencement exercises at Fort del Pilar in Baguio City, Mr. Marcos said the true strength of soldiers is ingrained in integrity, discipline, and honor – values which he said they must
always carry as they fulfill their mandate to serve and protect the nation. “As you take your oath today, remember that your loyalty is not to any political interest, not to any individual, nor any passing ideology. Your loyalty must always remain with the Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines,” he said. Turn to A4
THE chief of the Pasay city police denied escorting a black van that was believed to be carrying Senator Bato dela Rosa out of the Senate compound early Thursday dawn. “The police mobile in question was not part of any convoy or escort operation connected to any personality,” Col. Joselito De Sesto said. He said he was the passenger of the white police mobile that left the compound around the same time as the black van. De Sesto said his exit was “purely coincidental” with that of the black van. He said he has no information about the passenger or driver of the black van, and that there was no coordination or interaction involving the two vehicles. As this developed, election lawyer Romulo Macalintal said Dela Rosa’s departure from the Senate premises could weaken the senator’s urgent petition before the Supreme Court seeking a temporary restraining order against the enforcement of the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court. “The recent departure of Senator Ronald ‘Bato’ dela Rosa from the Senate premises has triggered a significant shift in the legal landscape of his urgent Motion for a Temporary Restraining Order before the Supreme Court,” Macalintal said. “The government can now persuasively argue that the ‘imminent danger’ cited in the motion for TRO no longer exists because the Senator is no longer under the Senate’s protective custody,” he added. Turn to A4
UP alumni seek Alan’s resignation; Assumption removes Loren’s portrait By Rolando Ng III
TAKEN DOWN. The portrait of Senator Loren Legarda is removed from the ‘Wall of Empowered Women’ of Assumption College San Lorenzo. ACSL Facebook page
IN A rare and unprecedented show of unity, former members of the historically rival student political formations from the University of the Philippines – SAMASA and Nagkaisang Tugon – have jointly called for the resignation of Senate President Alan Cayetano, saying he has shown “grave failure of leadership, judgment, and institutional responsibility.” Two student groups from educational institutions associated with
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Senator Loren Legarda also criticized her decision to join the upper chamber’s new majority led by Cayetano. The student council of Assumption College San Lorenzo removed Legarda’s image from its “Wall of Empowered Women” while the UP Broadcasting Association challenged the senator “to reflect on the values she once claimed to stand for.” In a joint statement SAMASA and Tugon, under which Cayetano
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LOVE SETS SAIL. Eleven couples exchange wedding vows on board rafts
made by inmates of Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm at Sitio Pandan in Sablayan, Occidental Mindoro on May 3, 2026. Mayor Bong Marquez led the mass wedding with the sea as their backdrop. FB page of Mayor Bong Marquez
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