The God Culture: Did Pinto Shipwreck In Batanes Or Luzon?

Timothy Jay Schwab who is The God Culture is a fantastic mental gymnast. He knows how to flip and tumble and shake off the words of a text which are incompatible with his thesis. 

Recently he has been fixated on Pinto's mention of "five large islands" to the west of the Ryukyu (that is Lequios) Islands. Here is the full quote from Pinto's journal. 

This Ryukyu island is situated at twenty-nine degrees latitude. It is two hundred leagues in circumference, sixty in length, and thirty in width. The land in itself is more or less on the order of Japan, a little mountainous in some parts, but it becomes more level in the interior, where many of its lush, fertile fields are irrigated by freshwater streams which produce an endless number of fresh crops, especially wheat and rice. There are mountain ranges where they mine a great quantity of copper which, because it is so plentiful, is so cheap among these people that they load junks full of it to sell in every port of China, Lamau,* Sumbor,’ Chabaqué, Tosa,” Miyako," and Japan, with all the other islands to the south, Sestras, Goto,” Fucanxi, and Pollem. In addition, all this land of the Ryukyus has great quantities of iron, steel, lead, tin, alum, saltpeter, sulphur, honey, beeswax, sugar, and large amounts of ginger which is of a much better quality and far superior to the ginger produced in India. They also have large forests of angely wood,"" jatemar,"' poytao,’ pisu, pine, chestnut, cork oak, oak, and cedar, from which thousands of ships can be made.

To the west, there are five very large islands which have many silver mines, pearls, amber, incense, silk, rosewood, brazilwood, wild eaglewood, and large quantities of pitch," though the silk is somewhat inferior to that of China. The inhabitants of all these islands are like the Chinese, and they dress in clothes made of linen, cotton, and silk, along with some damasks that they import from Nanking. They are overly fond of food, given to the pleasures of the flesh, and have little inclination for bearing arms, which are in short supply, from which it appears that it will be very easy to conquer them. So much so that in the year 1556 there arrived in Malacca a Portuguese in the service of the grand master of Santiago" by the name of Pero Gomes de Almeida,' bringing a magnificent gift and letters from the nautoguim, prince of the island of Tanegashima, for King John III, may his soul rest in peace, which in essence amounted to an appeal for five hundred men to help him and his men conquer this Ryukyu island, in return for which he offered to pay an annual tribute of five thousand quintals of copper and one thousand of brass. Nothing ever came of this embassy because the message was sent to Portugal on board the galleon on which Manuel de Sousa de Sepulveda was shipwrecked.

Pinto, pg. 300, Rebecca Catz, translator

As of this writing Tim has published four articles about these five islands. In the first article Tim concluded the five islands are the Philippines proper. 

The Smoking Quill writes again. Pinto’s “five very large islands” were not Ryukyu. They were Philippine islands west of Batanes—the true Lequios where Pinto was shipwrecked, the Isles of Gold, the gateway to Ophir. Every resource fits the Philippines and Ryukyu fails. 

https://thegodculturephilippines.com/pinto-s-resource-test-the-five-great-islands-were-never-ryukyu/

Never mind that the Philippine Islands are SOUTH of Batanes. 

In the second article Tim analyzed a map from 1799 that mentions five islands in the Philippines that do not actually exist. He says they are "clearly a symbolic preservation of Pinto’s “Five Very Large Islands” and his shipwreck near Lequios." 

In a 1799 map engraved and published in Venice by Antonio Zatta, we find yet another historical witness to the true location of the Lequios Isles: the Philippines. Zatta plots five islands west of Batanes where none exist today, labeling the region "Il Banco d’Argento" (The Silver Bank), adjacent to the Isole di Bashee and Babuyanes—clearly a symbolic preservation of Pinto’s “Five Very Large Islands” and his shipwreck near Lequios.

https://thegodculturephilippines.com/venetian-map-confirms-pinto-s-lequios-were-the-philippines/

Why would Antonio Zatta symbolically preserve "Pinto’s “Five Very Large Islands” and his shipwreck near Lequios?" What sense does that make and what is Tim's evidence proving that is the case? It is a bizarre ad-hoc speculative assertion that Tim has literally made up whole cloth.

Tim then proceeds to restate his thesis that the Philippines proper are the five islands mentioned by Pinto.

Yes — ALL FIVE major Philippine islands you've proposed (excluding Masbate) are geographically west of Batanes, affirming Pinto's directional accuracy if we interpret his account as referring to directional progression, not mapped coordinates.

Note that this analysis says one could consider all five major Philippines Islands to be west of Batanes only if you interpret west in a certain way.  

In the third article Tim brings up an irrelevant French map from 1752.

A full 47 years before Zatta’s Venetian chart and over a century after Pinto’s famous voyage, this 1752 French map silently affirms a truth colonial revisionists tried to erase: the Lequios Isles were the Philippines.

Just west of the Bashee Isles (Batanes), the map boldly labels:

“Les 5 Isles” — The Five Islands

They are plotted where no separate islands exist today, because they were never meant as literal, isolated rocks. Instead, they memorialize Pinto’s “Five Very Large Islands” — Luzon, Palawan, Mindoro, Panay, and Mindanao — recounted in sequence after his shipwreck and trial in Batanes.

https://thegodculturephilippines.com/the-french-knew-too-les-5-isles-west-of-bashee-pinto-s-lequios/

It's kind of strange that Tim is trying to prove the major islands of the Philippines proper are the five islands mentioned by Pinto by bringing up maps which post-date Pinto and show five tiny islands that Tim admits do not exist. 

In the fourth article Tim makes a clumsy reference to Finding Nemo which is not very clever, funny, or relevant. Maybe it's a reference to the sequel Finding Dory. 

Finding Pinto — The Five Isles That Never Moved

Maps featured:

• John Speed, A New Map of East India, 1676

• Nicolaes Visscher I / Peter Schenk, Indiae Orientalis Nova Descriptio, ca. 1700

• Willem Janszoon Blaeu, India quae Orientalis…, 1640

"There were five very large islands, near to where I shipwrecked..." — so recounted Fernão Mendes Pinto in his famed 16th-century travels. Colonial academia later twisted this into an implausible link to Ryukyu, far to the northeast, where no such “five large isles” exist. But the maps never lied.

Across three of the most authoritative early modern European cartographers—Speed, Visscher-Schenk, and Blaeu—we find those Five Islands unmistakably preserved, plotted west and slightly south of Bashee and Batanes, hovering in clear reference to Pinto’s original drift account.

🧭 The Verdict

Over 150 years after Pinto's voyage, these maps still plot the same five-island formation, right where the shipwreck occurred—near Batanes, adjacent to Ilocos. There was no confusion among cartographers. Only later, as colonial narrative control tightened, did Lequios begin drifting north.

https://thegodculturephilippines.com/finding-pinto----the-five-isles-that-never-moved/

In the movie Finding Nemo, a clownfish named Nemo gets lost and his father has to find him. After a series of adventures they are reunited. This does not apply to Fernando Pinto. He knew exactly where he was. It was not the Philippines. In fact, he had previously been to the Lequios Islands. 

We proceeded on our voyage in the battered condition we were in, and three days later we were struck by a storm that blew over the land with such fierce gusts of wind that that same night we were driven out of sight of the shore. And since by then we were unable to approach it again, we were forced to make with full sail for the island of the Ryukyus where this pirate was well known to both the king and the other people there. With this in view we sailed ahead through the islands of this archipelago, but since at this time we were without a pilot, ours having been killed in the recent battle, and the northeast winds were blowing head on, and the currents were running strong against us, we went tacking with great effort from one board to the other for twenty-three days until finally, at the end of that time, our Lord brought us within sight of land. Coming in closer to see if it showed any sign of an inlet or harbor with good anchorage, we noticed a huge fire burning over to the south, almost at a level with the horizon. This led us to believe that it was probably inhabited and that there might be people there who would sell us water, which we were running short of.

As we were anchoring opposite the island in seventy fathoms of water, two small canoes with six men on board came rowing out from shore. They came alongside, and after an exchange of greetings and courtesies in their fashion, they asked us whence the junk had come. Our answer was that we had come from China, bringing merchandise to trade with them, if they would give us leave to do so. One of them replied that as long as we paid the duties that were customarily charged in Japan, which was the name of that big land mass outlined ahead of us, the nautoquim, lord of that island of would readily grant us permission. He followed this up by Tanegashima, telling us everything else that we needed to know and showed us the port where we were supposed to anchor. 

pg. 274

Pinto could see Japan from the Lequios Islands. Japan cannot be seen from Batanes. Nobody has lost these islands or is searching for them. Nobody is confused as to their location. Nobody except for Tim.

In the first paragraph cited above Pinto says the Ryukyu Islands (that is the Lequios Islands) are located at 29°N.  Tim's claim that coordinate is ambiguous and means an area between 9° and 20° does not pass muster and is fallacious ad hoc reasoning. It especially does not make sense that he claims this coordinate is ambiguous yet treats the five islands mentioned in the next paragraph as gospel truth pointing to the Philippine Archipelago. For Tim 29 is an ambiguous range between 9 and 20 while 5 is literally 5. 

Tim has decided to focus on a "resource test" to prove that the five islands must be the Philippines proper. 

The Philippines matches every resource Pinto named, in the right number of large islands, with historical and archaeological backing.

https://thegodculturephilippines.com/pinto-s-resource-test-the-five-great-islands-were-never-ryukyu/

That is to ignore the rest of the paragraph which says the following:

The inhabitants of all these islands are like the Chinese, and they dress in clothes made of linen, cotton, and silk, along with some damasks that they import from Nanking. They are overly fond of food, given to the pleasures of the flesh, and have little inclination for bearing arms, which are in short supply, from which it appears that it will be very easy to conquer them. So much so that in the year 1556 there arrived in Malacca a Portuguese in the service of the grand master of Santiago" by the name of Pero Gomes de Almeida,' bringing a magnificent gift and letters from the nautoguim, prince of the island of Tanegashima, for King John III, may his soul rest in peace, which in essence amounted to an appeal for five hundred men to help him and his men conquer this Ryukyu island

Pinto says the inhabitants of the Lequios Islands, which includes the five islands he mentions, "are like the Chinese." He also says they do not bear arms thus making them easy to conquer. He also says the prince of Tanegashima asked for help from the Portuguese to conquer the Lequios Islands! Tanegashima is a real Japanese island. When did a Japanese prince ever ask the Portuguese for help to conquer the Philippines? Never!

In a previous article I examined every reference to the Philippines in Pinto's journal. He makes a distinction between the Lequios and Luzon peoples. Luzon is the Philippines. In every instance where Luzons are mentioned they are described as hired mercenaries. Here is one example.

However, that same night, their spies captured five fishermen who confessed under torture that this was the same armada that the Achinese king had sent two months before to Tenasserim in his war with the Sornau, king of Siam, in which five thousand Luzons and Borneans, all hand-picked men, were said to be returning, under the command of a Turk by the name of Hamed Khan, nephew of the pasha of Cairo.

pg. 28

Pinto says the Lequios people "have little inclination for bearing arms, which are in short supply." They weren't warriors. That means they were not Luzons. That means Lequios is not the Philippines.

It's astounding that Tim refuses to deal directly with Pinto's journal in toto. He picks what suits him and casts doubt on everything that contradicts him. He has posted a number of articles on the topic of the Lequios Islands referencing post-dated maps, resource tests, fake Filipino etymologies, drift currents, and anything else EXCEPT for the words of Pinto. Timothy Jay Schwab has to dance around the words of Pinto because they do not support his claim that the Lequios Islands are the Philippines.

While Tim purports to cite Pinto, he actually makes up quotes.  

"There were five very large islands, near to where I shipwrecked..." — so recounted Fernão Mendes Pinto in his famed 16th-century travels. 

That is not what Pinto wrote. Here is what he wrote.

To the west, there are five very large islands

See how easy that was to use Pinto's own words? See how Tim has subtly altered the meaning of this sentence by transforming "to the west" into "near to where I shipwrecked?" How hard is it for Tim to cite Pinto accurately?

Tim's position on where Pinto was shipwrecked continues to change. At the very beginning, before Tim published his first book, he was clear that Luzon was the main Lequios Island where Pinto shipwrecked. 

Clue#25: Philippines is Ophir: Magellan, Pinto, Barbosa, King of Spain, Cabot KNEW - Ophir, Tarshish

6:15 Pinto even goes as far as to give the exact location latitude of the main Lequios Island as modern-day Luzon Philippines in fact if you follow his directions exactly and we'll do that later you will end up in Northwest Luzon or Ilocos specifically

But now Tim says Pinto shipwrecked in Batanes while Luzon has been relegated to one of the five islands west of Lequios Island. 

However, he failed to even read our position as Pinto described where he was shipwrecked and that was Batanes which is extremely fertile as well. 

https://thegodculturephilippines.com/testing-pinto-s-accuracy-a-further-geographic-reassessment-of-lequios-lucones-and-latitude-drift/

Tim will likely plead that his evolving position is evidence of his transparency and academic honesty. That is hogwash!

Tim's evolving position is indicative of uncertainty and deflection not transparency and honesty. In his book The Search For King Solomon's Treasure Tim only dealt with Pinto's alleged coordinate of 9N20, which he cited not from Pinto but from J.G. Cheock. He did not engage with Pinto's journal at all. There are no quotes from Pinto in his book. Tim claims otherwise.

As we have repeatedly done, we continue to deepen our research, cite primary sources, and allow truth to speak for itself.

https://thegodculturephilippines.com/ilha-de-fuego-was-not-in-ryukyu-etymology-geography-pinto-s-real-island-of-fire/

1. Claim: "You Never Cited Pinto’s Journal"

False. We have referenced both the original Portuguese text and the Rebecca Catz translation of Pinto's Peregrinação throughout our Sourcebook, blog series, and video documentation. The Sourcebook includes full citation and quotation from both Catz and Portuguese excerpts, including the segment containing the "nine and twenty" reference, geographic features, and descriptions of the island Pinto encountered.

https://thegodculturephilippines.com/testing-pinto-s-accuracy-a-further-geographic-reassessment-of-lequios-lucones-and-latitude-drift/

Neither of those claims is truthful. Here is Tim's Sourcebook citation of Pinto.

Notice the conspicuous absence of any citation from Fernando Pinto. Instead Tim cites J.G. Cheock who cites Pinto albeit erroneously substituting 9N20 for 29°N.

Tim is on record denying the necessity of primary sources. 

https://youtu.be/EscrM4o-h4M

17:18 However a Pharisee looks at that and scoffs. "Heh! Well you could have used a better source. Why is your font so small on that screen? That one quote doesn't say that!" Though it always does say exactly what we represent by the way because it always vets, every single challenge has. "That map that shows those islands southeast of China's not really showing southeast of China. That's, well, India." Huh? No it's southeast of China. That's what the maps shows, duh. "And that map, and that map, and those directions, and those directions, and aww that font should be larger and yaw you should have quoted that differently, and..." 

I mean that's the kind of stuff that you get for going out, stepping out on a limb, and doing the research and telling people what is truth. And we prove it.  Those same people don't even bother to actually review the whole case. No. No, no. They'll watch one brief video or a few brief videos and then go and just ramble on and on and on.  And they are absolutely ignorant.  They don't even know what we prove, what we don't prove but all along they'll say "Ah see you didn't prove that." Well how will you know what we prove? You didn't even review the case. But it doesn't matter because it's not their point. They throw it all out in ignorance, haven't even reviewed the case yet they know because they know what we're going to prove because they have what basis? Absolutely none.  

"You used a font too small! Throw it out!"  Really? "You quoted a secondary source citing the original" oh which happens to be true and in representation actually match the original? Duh! I mean could you be more ridiculous? Yet we get all of this.

It is only when I brought up Pinto mentioning five large islands being to the West of the Lequios Islands that Tim bothered to discuss them. It is only when I brought up that Pinto could see Japan from his position in the Lequios Islands that Tim bothered to discuss it. Tim's position has evolved because I posted significant excerpts from Pinto's journal of which he was unaware and which contradict him, not because of long-time, consistent research on his part. Tim should have utilized the entire account in Pinto's journal from the beginning. Primary sources are very important. Why wasn't he talking about Pinto's five islands being the Philippines years ago? Why only now is he concocting fake Filipino etymologies for place names in Pinto's account? Why only now is he conducting a resource test to prove the Lequios Islands are the Philippines? Why has he ignored what Pinto wrote until now? Did he read the text and think those details weren't important? Why are they important now? The simple reason is that Tim was never familiar with Pinto's journal. His lack of citations from and engagement with the journal is proof of that. The alternative, that he was familiar with Pinto's journal but did not think it worth discussing, is even more confounding.

Rather than engage with Pinto he relied on a fabricated nonsense coordinate of 9N20 falsely attributed to Pinto by J.G. Cheock. It is I am who picking up the slack for this man who is unwilling to thoroughly examine Pinto's full account. Tim's focus remains on irrelevant maps, modern day resource tests, and fake Filipino etymology. Here is another fake Filipino etymology that is a real laugh riot. 

🪶 Smoking Quill Footnote: “Where Is Sipautor?” He Asked… 

A blogger recently mocked the reference to “Sipautor, Batanes” as if it were an invented or laughable name. He fails to address there is no Sipautor, Ryukyu. 

But had he paused to ask—or read with understanding—he might have discovered: 

• “Sipa” is the national foot game of the Philippines, and is specifically played in Batanes by children in open fields. 

• “Utor” is a Tagalog word meaning the burning of fields—a traditional slash-and-burn agricultural practice. 

Put them together, and “Sipautor” is likely a local place-name describing an area in Batanes where children played Sipa in cleared (burnt) farmland—a culturally accurate, even beautiful, etymology.

https://thegodculturephilippines.com/testing-pinto-s-accuracy-a-further-geographic-reassessment-of-lequios-lucones-and-latitude-drift/

According to Tim, Sipautor is a burned field where children played games. But according to Pinto Sipautor was a town of 500 households with a pagoda!

Close to sundown we reached a good-sized village of over five hundred house-holds called Sipautor, where we were immediately placed in one of the temples of their worship, a pagoda that was surrounded by a very high wall, and put under guard of over a hundred men, who could be heard shouting and beating the drums throughout the night, during which each one of us got as much rest as the time and circumstances permitted.

pg. 289

Where are the ancient pagodas in the Batanes or the rest of the Philippines? Did Tim bother to read this section or is my article mentioning Sipautor his primary source? Look at how the words of Pinto crush Timothy Jay Schwab who is The God Culture.

Retards in the Government 451

It's your weekly compendium of foolishness and corruption in the Philippine government.

 

 

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/2161939/cop-gunned-down-in-zamboanga-sibugay-minutes-before-new-year

What was meant to be a festive countdown turned into a tragedy after a policeman was shot dead by motorcycle-riding gunmen in Diplahan town, Zamboanga Sibugay, just 36 minutes before the New Year.

Police Staff Sergeant June Ray Estallo Gamones, 37, was on his was to visit his family when he was ambushed at 11:24 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 31, in Barangay Poblacion.

Captain Mary Joy Necesario, Diplahan police chief,  identified Gamones as a resident of Barangay Danlugan, Pagadian City. He was an active member of the 2nd Provincial Mobile Force Company  under the Zamboanga del Sur Provincial Police Office.

Initial investigations revealed that Gamones, who was in full field service uniform, had earlier asked permission from his team leader to travel to Barangay Mabini in Malangas town to see his family for the holidays.

He was ambushed while traversing a dimly lit portion of the national highway leading to Malangas.

Responding police officers, alerted by local residents, found Gamones lying beside his motorcycle. He was rushed to the Wilfredo Palma Memorial Hospital in Diplahan where he was declared dead despite a 20-minute effort to revive him.

Four fired5.56mm cartridges were found at the crime scene while the victim’s issued firearm was missing, beleived to have been carted away by the gunmen.

Citing initial accounts of witnesses, police said the victim was reportedly tailed by two unidentified men on a yellow-green Yamaha Mio motorcycle. Both men were wearing black jackets and brandished long firearms.

Authorities have yet to establish a motive for the killing. 

Diplahan police are currently conducting “backtracking” of CCTV footage from nearby establishments to identify the suspects, who were last seen fleeing toward Malangas.

A cop was assassinated just before the New Year began. 

https://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/684262/4-cops-involved-in-15-indiscriminate-firing-cases-during-holidays-pnp

Four police officers were among those involved in 15 cases of indiscriminate firing recorded by the Philippine National Police (PNP) between December 16, 2025, and January 1, 2026, during the holiday festivities.

Data shared by the PNP with reporters on Thursday showed that two of the indiscriminate firing cases each occurred in Ilocos Sur and Iloilo, while one each took place in Abra, Batangas, Benguet, Cagayan de Oro City, Catanduanes, Isabela, Manila, Negros Occidental, Pampanga, Parañaque City, and Surigao del Sur.

The PNP’s latest tally also noted that six of the cases occurred on Christmas Day, three early on New Year’s Day, two on Dec. 22, and one each on Dec. 18, 19, 21, and 31.

PNP’s data also detailed that the incidents resulted in the arrest of 14 individuals, while three more remain at large.

The cases also led to the confiscation of six caliber 9mm pistols; five caliber 45 pistols; two caliber 22 revolvers; a caliber .38 revolver; and a caliber 5.56 rifle.

Regarding the cases involving police officers, PNP data showed that the incidents involved a police master sergeant in Surigao del Sur, a police senior master sergeant in Iloilo, a patrolman in Parañaque City, and a patrolman in Cagayan de Oro.

The first three officers were arrested in connection with the indiscriminate firing incidents, while the fourth remains at large, according to the PNP.

Acting PNP Chief Lt. Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. had previously warned police officers against using their service firearms during holiday festivities, saying they could face criminal and administrative sanctions, including possible dismissal from the police force.

Four cops have been involved in indiscriminate firing over the holidays. 

https://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/684617/bulacan-councilor-surrenders-after-new-year-shooting-wounds-neighbor

A 54-year-old village councilor who allegedly shot and wounded a neighbor during the New Year’s Day revelry surrendered to authorities on Thursday.

According to Col. Jayson San Pedro, chief of police of the City of Baliwag, the victim was a 45-year-old man who was celebrating the New Year with his family under a tree in Pinagbarilan at around 12:45 a.m. when a stray bullet hit him in the neck.

The victim was rushed to the nearest hospital and is currently undergoing treatment.

San Pedro said the bullet’s trajectory was traced to a residential area beyond a vacant lot about 1.5 kilometers away, which pointed to the suspect’s house.

Police seized more than 20 spent shells from a .22-caliber firearm and a 9mm pistol.

The suspect, who was not named in the report, surrendered at around 6 a.m. after the victim’s family reported the incident to the police.

A village councilor who shot a neighbor has surrendered to authorities. 

https://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/684970/police-dismissed-over-3000-personnel-in-2025

The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Sunday said it dismissed over 3,000 personnel in 2025.

This developed as it resolved 4,203 administrative cases against 6,527 personnel in 2025.

PNP records showed that the involved personnel included 1,101 Police Commissioned Officers, 5,229 Police Non-Commissioned Officers, and 197 Non-Uniformed Personnel.

Of the 6,529 affected personnel, 3,124 were dismissed. Another 3,403 faced penalties ranging from demotion to suspension following due process and careful review of the evidence.

“These figures show that accountability in the PNP is not selective and not superficial,” PNP acting chief Lt. Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. said in a news release.

Nartatez said discipline is a foundation of police service.

“Wearing a uniform is a privilege, not a right. Those who betray public trust will be held accountable, while those proven innocent are clearing their names. That balance is essential to a professional police force,” he said.

He said, meanwhile, that internal cleansing efforts will continue alongside reforms aimed at strengthening ethics, professionalism, and public trust. 

This, he said, is anchored on the principle that discipline within the organization directly translates to better service to the people.

The Philippine National Police dismissed over 3,000 personnel in 2025.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/2163031/retired-gen-poquiz-arrested-over-inciting-to-sedition

Retired Air Force General Romeo Poquiz was arrested Monday at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) over an inciting to sedition charge, the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) said.

Fresh off a family trip to Thailand, Poquiz arrived at Naia at 8:11 a.m. when police arrested him on the strength of an arrest warrant issued by the Quezon City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 77, CIDG National Capital Region (NCR) chief Col. John Guiagui told reporters in an interview at Camp Crame.

Poquiz is the convenor of the United People’s Initiative, a group of retired military officers that has called for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to step down amid the corruption scandal.

The arrested retired general was brought to the CIDG–NCR headquarters in Camp Crame, Quezon City, at around 9:50 a.m.

According to Guiagui, Poquiz was undergoing standard booking procedures — fingerprinting, mugshots, and a medical exam — before being brought before the RTC, which set his bail at P48,000.

Poquiz’s legal counsels, Ferdinand Topacio and Virgilio Garcia, accused the police of initially preventing them from conferring with their client.

“We were insistent. We wanted to talk to our client. They wouldn’t let us through… We wanted to make sure that our client would be transported safely and to know where he would be brought. We were practically chasing after them,” Garcia said in Filipino in a chance interview at Camp Crame.

He added that their camp plans to file administrative and criminal cases against the arresting police officers.

Topacio also said in Filipino, “We blame the executive branch for weaponizing the Department of Justice to persecute and attack those whom they view as enemies of the government.”

“Instead of jailing the corrupt, he jailed those going after the corrupt,” he added.

Guiagui maintained that Poquiz’s legal counsels were unable to immediately confer with their client because they arrived late and had not yet secured clearance to pass through airport security.

In a separate press briefing at Camp Crame on Monday, Acting Philippine National Police Chief Lt. Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. likewise maintained that the police observed due process in Poquiz’s arrest.

Asked whether the arrest signaled a crackdown on anti-administration sentiments among retired uniformed personnel, Nartatez said in Filipino, “It’s not personal.”

Retired Air Force General Romeo Poquiz was arrested over an inciting to sedition charge.

https://www.philstar.com/nation/2026/01/07/2499246/pnp-general-faces-raps-over-p70599-footwear

For allegedly refusing to follow lawful directives and wearing expensive footwear, a retired Philippine National Police (PNP) general is facing administrative cases, the National Police Commission announced yesterday.

The Napolcom’s Inspection, Monitoring and Investigation Service filed cases of less grave neglect of duty and conduct unbecoming of a police officer against former PNP-Health Service chief Brig. Gen. Jezebel Imelda Medina.

Medina allegedly failed to comply with repeated directives from the Napolcom to submit the psychiatric and psychological report of a patrolman assigned with the Quezon City Police District.

The QCPD officer, a vlogger, posted seditious remarks online when Medina was Health Service director.

The second basis for the filing of the complaint was Medina’s alleged display of a luxury item, particularly a pair of footwear valued at P70,599.75 or nearly equivalent to one month’s basic salary of a brigadier general.

The act, according to Napolcom, raised concern about modest living and ethical conduct required of all public servants, most especially senior PNP officials.

Medina reached the mandatory retirement age of 56 last Dec. 25.

She is a respected member of the PNP, being the first Igorot woman general in the police force.

A dentist by profession, Medina entered the PNP in 1993 and rose from the ranks.

A graduate of the University of Baguio, Medina has received numerous awards, including dental officer of the year and best regional administrative unit chief.

She spearheaded programs, which provided quality health services not only to PNP personnel but also the marginalized service.

Among these is the Kalinga ni Ina, Abot ng Makakaya and One-Time, Big-time Pangkalusugan Program, which improved access to health services of the poor.

For allegedly refusing to follow lawful directives and wearing expensive footwear, a retired Philippine National Police general is facing administrative cases.

https://mb.com.ph/2026/01/06/pcg-launches-parallel-probe-vs-personnel-accused-of-groping-waitress-in-pasay-restorer

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said on Tuesday, Jan. 6, that it has launched an administrative investigation against one of its personnel accused of sexually harassing a waitress at a restobar in Pasay City. 

According to initial investigation, the incident reportedly happened around 1 a.m. on Jan. 5 at a restobar in Pasay City. The victim was performing her duties as a waitress when the suspect allegedly touched her buttocks before entering the comfort room of the establishment. 

The PCG said the victim immediately sought help from security personnel and when the suspect came out of the comfort room, the victim identified him as the one who sexually harassed her. 

The suspect was then brought to a police station and placed under police custody for possible violation of Republic Act No. 11313 or the Safe Spaces Act or “Bawal Bastos Law.” 

PCG spokesperson Captain Noemie Cayabyab said the Coast Guard does not tolerate any form of misconduct by its personnel, whether committed on duty or off duty. 

“Such behavior runs counter to the core values of the organization and undermines public trust in the service,” Cayabyab said. 

The PCG personnel involved was off duty and not in uniform at the time of the incident. He entered the service in 2023, according to Cayabyab. 

While the suspect is facing civilian legal proceedings, the PCG has opened a separate administrative case. Cayabyab said the penalty could be severe if the accusation is proven. 

“If it is proven that our personnel committed a violation of the Safe Spaces Act, it is possible that he will be removed from the service or dishonorably discharged,” she said. 

Cayabyab stressed that the PCG leadership will not tolerate misconduct among its ranks. 

“The leadership of the PCG will not condone this kind of misconduct by our personnel, whether inside or outside the performance of their duties,” she said. 

She added that the PCG is fully cooperating with authorities to ensure justice for the victim.

“We reaffirm that the PCG will give its full cooperation so that justice may be served for the victim,” Cayabyab said. 

Asked about the suspect’s explanation and whether alcohol was involved, Cayabyab declined to give details. 

“We are conducting an ongoing investigation and continuous inquiry so we cannot disclose details at the moment,” she said.

The Philippine Coast Guard has launched an administrative investigation against one of its personnel accused of sexually harassing a waitress at a restobar in Pasay City. 

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/2164383/eastern-samar-village-exec-stabbed-to-death

A village official of Barangay Tiguib in Oras town, Eastern Samar was killed in a stabbing incident on Tuesday, January 6, police said.

The victim, Arnel Montallana, 56, the incumbent chairman of Barangay Tiguib, was declared dead on arrival at Oras Doctor’s Hospital after sustaining multiple stab wounds.

According to the Oras Municipal Police Station (MPS), the incident occurred at around 7:50 a.m.

A concerned citizen reported the stabbing to police, prompting responding officers to rush to the area.

The victim was found lying bloodied on the side of the road with visible stab wounds and was immediately transported by the Emergency Response Team to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead by the attending physician.

Initial police investigation revealed that the victim was on his way home aboard his motorcycle after bringing his wife to their store in Barangay Tiguib. Upon reaching an intersection about 40 meters from his residence, he was suddenly attacked and stabbed by the suspect, identified as Erick Lorot, 45, of Brgy. Butnga, also in Oras.

Police said the suspect used a short-bladed weapon locally known as a “dipang,” stabbing the victim in different parts of his body. Despite managing to dismount his motorcycle and seek help, the victim was chased by the suspect and stabbed again, sustaining a fatal wound to the chest.

The suspect initially fled on foot toward the mountainous area of Barangay Camanga, Oras.

A hot pursuit operation was immediately launched, leading to his arrest at an isolated house belonging to his younger brother in the same barangay. The suspect and the weapon used in the incident were brought to the Oras MPS for proper disposition.

Authorities are continuing their investigation to determine the motive behind the attack. 

A village official of Barangay Tiguib in Oras town, Eastern Samar was killed in a stabbing incident.

Coronavirus Lockdown: Philippines Struggles, Casino Junkies, and More!

More news about how the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines is being handled by the public and the government. 

Everyone in SEA is laughing at the Philippines which is struggling to lure tourists in the post-pandemic era. 

https://globalnation.inquirer.net/304244/more-hassle-than-fun-philippines-struggles-to-draw-tourists

There are many reasons to visit the Philippines.

The pristine lagoons of Palawan, the white beaches of Boracay and the dive sites scattered across the archipelago continue to appeal to tourists.

Yet, as visitors return to Southeast Asia following the Covid-19 pandemic, the Philippines appears to be moving in reverse, suggesting that it lags behind its neighbors in competitiveness.

Tourist arrivals fell to 5.24 million in the first 11 months of 2025, down 2.2 percent from the same period the year before, data from the Department of Tourism (DOT) showed.

Arrivals remained about 37 percent below the pre-pandemic level of 2019, when 8.26 million visitors traveled to the Philippines.

The decline stands out in a region where tourism has largely recovered, with Vietnam notably recording 22 million arrivals, a 22.2 percent increase from pre-Covid-19 levels.

The shortfall reflects more than a cyclical slowdown.

A study by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies found that while tourism activity rebounded after the pandemic, much of the recovery was driven by domestic travel rather than foreign visitors.

International arrivals and tourism receipts have lagged behind those of regional peers, pointing to structural constraints that long predate the pandemic.

Those constraints are felt first at the country’s gateways.

Mr Curtis Chin, a senior adviser at the Milken Institute and former US ambassador to the Manila-based Asian Development Bank, said travel in the Philippines too often feels “more hassle than fun” – an ironic inversion of the country’s long-running tourism slogan, “It’s more fun in the Philippines”.

He told The Straits Times that congested airports, fragile connectivity between islands, and uneven transport infrastructure introduce friction that many travelers, especially those with limited time, simply choose to avoid.

“The Philippines is such a great destination. When I advise people visiting the Philippines, I always say, build in some wiggle room in case your plane is late or if the weather interrupts things,” Mr Chin said.

“But too often, people don’t have an extra three days.”

The Philippines is "moving in reverse!"  And if you read that article it's not the pandemic that is the problem.  It's the Philippines that is the problem. 

Royal Air Philippines has suspended all commercial flights because they have not recovered after the pandemic. 

https://www.philstar.com/business/2026/01/01/2497995/royal-air-suspends-flights-demand-slows-china

Clark-based carrier Royal Air Philippines is suspending all of its commercial flights starting Jan. 4 as travel demand in its market failed to recover from the pandemic lockdowns.

In a letter dated Dec. 22, 2025, Royal Air CEO Eduardo Novillas told travel agency Juichi International Travel Co. Ltd. that the airline is grounding commercial operations by Jan. 4.

Novillas said the end of the pandemic may have brought optimism to the airline industry, but not to Royal Air, given the geopolitical tensions facing the Philippines.

Citing the pre-pandemic situation, Novillas said Royal Air is reliant on the entry of East Asians into the Philippines, especially from China and South Korea. It is designed to bring guests from these markets to domestic destinations like Bohol, Boracay and Puerto Princesa.

However, Novillas said the geopolitical conflicts, likely between Manila and Beijing, have muted the flight demand in Royal Air’s target market. Right now, the Philippines is fending off Chinese aggression in parts of the West Philippine Sea.

In 2024, President Marcos also banned Philippine offshore gaming operators, a policy that drove off Chinese nationals who benefitted heavily from the industry during the Duterte administration.

“The common explanation from our business partners is that the current interest of their locals to visit the Philippines is significantly low to obscure, and that they will contact Royal Air once the interest becomes healthy and heightened again,” Novillas said.

He committed to refund passengers who would be affected by the operational suspension as also announced on Royal Air’s website.

Royal Air showed signs of partial recovery in 2023 and 2024, when it flew 100,323 and 116,324 international passengers, respectively. However, the carrier ferried just 51,764 in the nine months to September 2025, signaling a slowdown.

The picture is worse on the domestic front, where Royal Air posted a 63 percent dip in passenger traffic to 38,845 in 2024, from 104,473 in 2023. Certainly, it did not help the airline that its larger competitors were expanding fleet and network during that period.

Further, there are no signs of recovery in Chinese demand for Southeast Asian trips as argued by Asian Development Bank economist Jules Hugot in a recent blog.

“Cambodia and the Philippines are seeing some of the biggest shortfalls, with their arrivals from the People’s Republic of China still down 47 percent and 82 percent from pre-pandemic levels in early-2025, respectively,” Hugot said.

Well, since the Philippines is not attracting foreign tourists and Royal Air relies on foreign tourists it's no wonder they have gone belly up!

The pandemic is to blame for the spread of another epidemic — online gambling.

https://tribune.net.ph/2025/12/29/pandemic-bred-online-casino-junkies

The Covid-19 pandemic, an unprecedented global tragedy, is to blame for the spread of another epidemic — online gambling — where highly tech-savvy Filipinos are at the center.

An expert in the gaming sector told Nosy Tarsee that the health contagion was a turning point for speeding up the transfer online of many business activities, including gambling.

The expert discussed how the significant growth of online gaming has played out in the Philippines. Worldwide, it is hard for land-based casinos to maintain a competitive offering for consumers without their own online gaming services, especially in jurisdictions where online gaming is permitted, such as the Philippines.

The expert said the phenomenon will stay for good since “it would be hard now to put the online gaming ‘genie’ back in the bottle,” as Filipinos have become adept at spending time online, including for playing either social or casino games.

A government-imposed ban on the trend would only encourage the gray market, which consumers would be expected to patronize, resulting in significant losses of state revenues. 

During the Covid-19 pandemic, social and casino-style games became available on digital payment platforms’ apps, and the Philippines was no exception. The meteoric rise of payment platforms also occurred as people stayed indoors.

The social problem of addiction to online games came as a consequence.

In August this year, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas ordered electronic wallet (e-wallet) services in the country, some of which had aggregated app-based gambling providers via their payment platforms, to delink their payment services from gaming sites.

At one point, the largest e-wallet provider reported 94 million (e-wallet) users out of a population of 115 million, representing a significant base for any online service provider.

The pandemic had shortened the timeframe for gaming to migrate to a typically online format, from “10 to 15 years” to “two or three.”

The expert said the government must adopt self-exclusion protocols to fight gambling addiction.

In the United Kingdom, if you self-exclude on one website, none of the thousands of regulated websites will allow you to play.

Protecting consumers remains the bottom line, even for online casinos.

If online gambling is such an epidemic and a social disease then the government should ban it. 

A Frenchman and his Filipina wife gave away homemade crepes to frontliners during the pandemic. This has turned into a full-fledged business. 

https://www.abs-cbn.com/lifestyle/food-travel/2026/1/6/how-a-pandemic-food-donation-turned-into-crepe-glazik-1248

What began as a simple act of generosity during the pandemic has grown into a thriving business.  

In 2020, French native Neven Charpentier and his Filipina wife, Nicole de la Peña, started giving away homemade crepes to frontliners — an effort that would eventually lead to the birth of Crepe Glazik. 

“We were sending to hospitals, giving doctors and nurses, even sending crepes to their families for free,” Charpentier told ABS-CBN News. 

“There came a time when they already wanted to pay. We were surprised. We were just doing caramel and chocolate crepes from home, trying to help as our donation. But that eventually became our business. We started our menu step by step. I also made recipes in progress. We started very humble. Then we had our first restaurant.” 

From a neighborhood spot in Salcedo Village, Makati, where it opened in 2021, Crepe Glazik slowly began to grow. The second branch rose at Uptown Mall in Bonifacio Global City, followed by the opening of its third location over the weekend at Shangri-La Plaza.  

“This is also our biggest branch because it’s twice the size of our first two branches,” informed Charpentier.   

“We open one branch every two years,” Charpentier added. “Crepe is like our pizza in France. There’s pizza around the world. In France, we don’t bring crepe as much, but we try to also bring it around the world. 

“Especially from my region in Brittany. My family really do crepes. From the time I was a kid, I know the taste of crepe. I know how to make it. It was for me something that will always remind me of home.”  

Charpentier hails from Quimper, a small city of about 70,000 people in France’s Brittany region, widely regarded as the birthplace of the crepe. 

“We can have small variations in doing crepes,” he said. “We can do crepe with egg, without egg, for example. Sometimes it’s crispier. We can do the crust that makes the crepe crispy. We are trying to do something different for the Philippine market. 

“We are trying to do the crepe as authentic as it can be. That’s why we get a lot of French customers, including the ambassadors. We really get a mix of customers. We really join Filipinos and French together. So if you go, you will see a table full of French beside Filipino families. That’s my goal. To bring everyone for dessert and enjoy the cultural and culinary taste of Brittany, the Western part of France,” he added. 

Charpentier was delighted that many Filipinos know about crepes. “There are people who also try the authentic crepe,” he said. “Maybe might be more premium what we do here [in Crepe Glazik]. At least people here know about crepe. We don’t have the difficulty introducing it to the market.” 

Charpentier didn’t go to culinary school; he studied mechanical engineering in college instead. “My culinary background is always family,” he said. “I learned how to make crepes at six years old. At 10, I was already putting the ingredients. In our family, we made crepes every week, on Saturdays and Sundays.” 

Crepe Glazik serves authentic French crepes, as well as artisanal home-made gelato. “Everything is home-made,” said Charpentier. “Others were asking why we don’t have Nutella. We don’t have any industrial product. I want to offer home-made products. I keep on saying that, so we always try something new." 

Putting that philosophy into practice, Charpentier began making his own chocolate creations with almonds and hazelnuts. “We roasted in our kitchen,” he said. “We ground it and made out own nut paste with caramel. That’s our home-made Nutella, with praline caramel. That’s an authentic one." 

Charpentier isn’t afraid to experiment with flavors for the local palate, either. “Putting mango in a crepe? Why not? That’s more authentic than fusion. I don’t hesitate to do combinations for Filipinos. Sweet and salty taste is good for the Filipino market. I used a bit of raw honey from Mindanao. It combines super well. French love it. Filipinos love it also.” 

The couple is looking to open a branch in the south, but not this year. 

“If you want to stay in business, go slow. We opened three restaurants in four years," he said. “We want to keep control and make sure quality remains the same day after day, year after year. We maintain the same recipe. I don’t want to change it. We also try to improve step by step.”

Another success story brought about by the pandemic.