Jessica Soho Presidential Interviews confirmed that Isko Moreno is indeed a populist, a "trapo"

Wazzup Pilipinas!?


Panfilo Lacson, Isko Moreno, Manny Pacquiao, and Leni Robredo hurdle a grueling three-hour program that sets the tone for more presidential interviews and debates.

Jessica Soho did a great job - tough but very professional. Pambansang hiring manager ang peg. Her research team did an excellent job too. 

Props to GMA for that strongly worded statement at the end of the program. Someone got mighty roasted!

The whole program also showed why one candidate did not show up. He will be completely exposed.

VP Leni Robredo stands out because she's able to succinctly communicate a strategic vision and present a concrete plan for that vision. 

VP Leni only further reinforced her viability and credibility as a presidential aspirant. Ready na siya for the toughest position in the country.

VP Leni really slaying this. Her background in law, economics, governance, and development is very apparent. On top of that, the breadth of her work as VP. Her responses are very experiential.

Sen. Lacson demonstrates real knowledge of the issues, but I think he'd be more effective as a legislator.

Isko Moreno draws from his experience as Manila Mayor, overly projects pragmatism, but obviously those aren't enough to lead an entire country. 

Isko Moreno is proof that we should judge politicians based on their policies and actions and NOT on their rhetoric and speeches.

He sounds like someone who just tells you what you want to hear, not what he truly means. 

Template ang response ni Isko: 

a. will do what we did in Manila + b. will deliver results

+ c. motherhood statement pandering to the poor

Isko Moreno revolves his presidential candidacy around him coming from a poor family but his policies are anti-poor. Trapo talaga. 

Anti-poor na polisiya! violence disguised as improvement! 

Government officials are the SERVANTS of the public, not kings to be entreated! Isko Moreno is shaping the city in HIS vision, not the poor, oppressed, and marginalized peoples'.

Para sa bayan at sa tao ba siya talaga?

Isko Moreno talking about not tolerating corruption is pure hot air. He doesn’t condemn the Marcoses and Dutertes’ plunder of our money. How can he go after the men and women behind the gigantic thievery of public funds when he does not even condemn those who are perpetuating it?

I don't get Isko Moreno's admiration of the good aspect of the Martial Law.

It's like he's saying that the tragedies, murders, and corruption were a necessary evil as long as infrastructures were built. 

In a time of moral crisis, you can only support or condemn the purveyors of these crises. 

All those infrastructures were built with taxpayers' money and were guises for the plunder committed by Marcos

You cannot look for a silver lining in a regime dripped with blood.

Isko Moreno shunning branding. Says the guys who's active on social media and styling himself as "Yorme" and with the catchphrase "Batang Maynila." The pot calling the kettle black much ehh?

I hate when Isko Moreno always says “iskwater ako.” Yan ang branding mo. Wala siyang masagot on what his branding is. Yun ang branding niya - using the poor narrative to make the filipinos feel na he is one with them. That he is one with the poor.

“Hindi ko kailangan ng brand.” Hindi ganon ‘yon, Isko Moreno. The people need to know where you stand. Not everything can be solved by you being “cool”

Ironic how he did not even hesitate to say "no to same sex union" when he approved the rainbow pedestrian lane in Manila in 2019 to show his openness to the LGBT community. This just shows how performative he is. 

I don't trust Isko Moreno. In 2019, he promised not to support reclamation projects in Manila. After he won, he didn't do anything to stop them. He even supported that damned dolomite beach. Ang sagot ni Iskoba sa “dolomite” sa interview ni Jessica Soho. IT’S A VIEW… Palkups talaga!

Isa pa, Arroceros Forest Park! The city's lungs. He promised to preserve it pero a large part of it ay sinemento na.

He should stop bringing up that he is poor before. Being poor before doesnt guarantee that he is not anti poor. He obviously favor capitalism and ensuring the "beauty" and "cleanliness" than the welfare of the people. Yorme is a populist.

Why am I not surprised that Isko Moreno was the only one who said NO to Duterte being prosecuted by the International Criminal Court?

Isko Moreno is a prototype of Rodrigo Duterte. Trying to get sympathy from the poor as if he did not displaced the poor vendors of Manila. He is Duterte Lite.

Jessica Soho demolished Isko Moreno by showing how trapo Isko is - from supporting Erap to opposing him, jumping different political parties, to sucking up to Duterte and attacking him and sucking up again.

Siya ang nabugbog ng husto, not because Jessica was playing favorites but because Isko got involved in many controversies. I find the excess in election contribution issue scandalous!

He admitted that he saved P50 million from the donations during his campaign as a senatorial candidate in 2016. 

He, however, clarified that he paid P9.7 million taxes for it and did not have violations of paying his taxes in the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).

I can't be the only person who thinks Isko Moreno is lying when he said his most expensive possession is a van worth 1M? 

Isko Moreno sounds like the kind of guy who'll bash VP Leni Robredo when she wins. Just listening to him speak right now says a lot about his inferiority complex and boastful ego. 

Fuck those people who justify Isko's actions by using the "law is law" argument. They are saying as if law is absolute, which is not. Law is not perfect, because it is a product of humanity. It can be changed to adapt to society's needs, or the ruler's needs.

Isko Moreno is the lone cartoon character of this bunch. He is the fakest presidential candidate ever. 

If elected president, Isko Moreno said he will finish the rehabilitation of Marawi City by December 2022. 

"By December 2022 tapos na iyon."I've seen this movie and I don't like the ending.

I saw Duterte 2.0 sa buong duration ng program. Another 3-to-6 months clown? A jetski wannabe? Sadly maraming nahihikayat sa ganoong pananalita. 

Jessica asked him about populist comparisons to Duterte, Trump, and Bolsonaro... He happily obliged to the analogy... kadiri!

You can't convince me that Isko Moreno is not Duterte in the making talaga, from his frequent paawa effect, action movie like pananakot, to his "just like what we did in Manila" line, tangina narinig ko na lahat yan!

If Isko Moreno truly reviles the Marcoses and the Aquinos, he should have not copied their ways of repression. Remember, he arrested four Panday Sining artists for vandalism in 2019. He’s no different. Trapong-trapo.

Isko Moreno being associated with the term "populist" on national television. Pure antics and political rhetorics. Paikut-ikot. Balimbing. His inconsistent political affiliation was even laid down in a clear manner.

"Coming from you, Yorme, na nagpalipat-lipat din ng partido." — Jessica Soho (2022)

One word that really hits the spot in describing Isko: TRAPO. Isko Moreno is basically Duterte 2.0 but doing his skincare routine. Isko Moreno is literally Duterte without pisteng yawa in his vocabulary.

"Kung ano ang ginawa sa Maynila, ito ang gagawin natin sa buong bansa."

"Humanda na kayo bilang na ang araw niyo dahil papanagutin ko kayo lahat."

"Bakit wala silang ginagawa para sa mga tao natin."

Isko Moreno needs to step out of his “eto ginawa ko sa Manila” bubble sir Manila is not the whole country.

Manny Pacquiao...well, I appreciate his honesty in responding to the more personal issues. But I think he tries naman to study.

Appreciate ko naman itong pag-inject ni Pacquiao ng public finance - income and revenue daw. Ayun lang, hindi direct response sa PhilHealth issue. 

A for effort! 

I think Manny Pacquiao should just concentrate on becoming a philanthropist. I think he has genuine compassion naman.

VP Leni talks about inspiring other people to help, eto na naman si Isko sa pagscale-up hahaha. Ayoko na. 

Pagtulong talaga ang gusto gawin ni Manny. Pwedeng-pwede syang tumulong kahit hindi sya presidente. 

True, may track record si Sen. Lacson but he looks tired na.

If you'll change your political stand, ano ang mas matimbang?

A.) Panfilo Lacson's Netflix movie 

B.) Isko Moreno twice quoting Edmund Burke 

SSS: COVID-hit members can avail of sickness benefits

Wazzup Pilipinas!?


The Social Security System (SSS) announces that it provides sickness benefits to members who cannot work due to sickness or injury, including those who contracted the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

SSS President and Chief Executive Officer Aurora C. Ignacio said that the sickness benefit is a daily cash allowance paid for the number of days that a member cannot work due to sickness or injury.


Under the program, a member must have paid at least three monthly contributions within the last 12 months prior to the semester of sickness or injury, may be confined either in a hospital or at home for at least four days, has used up all his current company sick leaves for the current year and has notified his employer regarding his sickness or injury.


“We are aware that many of our members are getting sick right now. Some of them even got infected by the current Omicron variant. We want to assure them that SSS is providing them with sickness benefit to augment their lost income,” Ignacio said.


Employed, self-employed, voluntary, and overseas Filipino worker (OFW) members could avail of the sickness benefit which is granted up to a maximum of 120 days in one calendar year to qualified members.


For example, Juan dela Cruz got sick for ten days this January 2022. The semester of his sickness will be from October 2021 to March 2022 while the last 12 months before the semester of his sickness will be from October 2020 to September 2021. He should have paid at least three monthly contributions for this period to qualify for the sickness benefit.


For those members who contracted COVID-19, they must provide a positive Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) test.


The daily cash allowance is equivalent to 90% of the member’s average daily salary credit (ADSC). For example, if the total of member’s six highest monthly salary credit (MSC) for the 12 months is P96,000, he will have an ADSC of P533.33, and 90% of his ADSC will be P480, which is his daily sickness allowance (DSA). Then, multiply the DSA or P480 by the approved number of days (example ten days), to get the member’s total sickness benefit which is P4,800.


For humanitarian consideration, for contingencies starting March 2020, SSS extended the filing period for the sickness notifications and sickness benefit claims of members and employers.


With the extension, SSS is giving its members 60 calendar days after the lifting of the community quarantine to submit their Sickness Notification Forms of their home confinement to their employers. Normally, SSS would give them five calendar days to submit the said form to their employers.


For employers, SSS is giving them 60 calendar days after the receipt of the notification form from the employee to submit this to the SSS. If the country is still on community quarantine on the last day of submission, the employer may still submit the said form within 60 days after the lifting of the community quarantine. Under normal circumstances, employers should submit this form to the SSS within five calendar days after receiving it from their employees.


For self-employed, voluntary, and Overseas Filipino Worker members, they can submit their Sickness Benefit Application Forms for their home confinement to SSS within 60 calendar days after the lifting of the community quarantine.


Effective July 2020, employers may file their Sickness Benefit Reimbursement Applications (SBRAs) using their My.SSS accounts.


Before they could use the online facility, employers must have a registered My.SSS account and enrolled disbursement account in the SSS Disbursement Account Enrollment Module (DAEM). They should also have an SSS-approved sickness notification of their employees and they have paid in advance the sickness benefit to their employees.


Employers must log in to their My.SSS account, proceed to the E-Services tab and click on "Submit SS Sickness Benefit Reimbursement Application (SBRA)."


On December 27, 2021, the online filing of Sickness Notification (SN) and Sickness Benefit Application (SBA) were implemented together with the enhanced online filing of SBRA.


Online filing of the SN and SBA allowed employers and individually filing members to submit their application forms in the comfort of their homes or offices without having to go to the branches. The program is among the E-services available in their My.SSS account and required the filers to upload scanned documents such as medical certificate and other supporting medical documents.

On the other hand, under the enhanced online filing of SBRA, system shall display all approved SNs of employees of the particular employer. After this, employer shall select the claim reference number from the list and then, click proceed.


Employer must fill out the necessary additional information and tick the certification checkbox to certify that the information provided is true and correct and that the amount of benefit was paid in advance to the employee in accordance with the Social Security Law before clicking submit and OK.


SSS will send a notification to the registered email address of the employer stating that the application was submitted successfully with the transaction details of their reimbursement application and at the same time email notification shall also be sent to the employee for the confirmation of advance payment of sickness benefit. Employee is given seven (7) working days to confirm that the amount of sickness benefit was advanced by the employer. Failure to confirm within the given period or opted to click “I do not confirm” shall mean rejection of the filed SBRA by the employer.


For members, proceeds of the approved sickness benefit payment will be released through the member’s Unified Multi-purpose Identification (UMID) card enrolled as an ATM card or through their disbursement accounts in participating banks under the Philippine Electronic Fund Transfer System and Operations Network (PESONet). For employers, proceeds of the sickness reimbursements shall be credited to their enrolled disbursement bank account enrolled in DAEM.


“We want to remind the employers that under Republic Act 11199 or the Social Security Act of 2018, they should pay in advance the approved sickness benefit of their employees which is one of their primary obligations,” Ignacio concluded.


From January to November 2021, SSS has released around P3.30 billion to 399,455 members who availed of the said benefit.

For more information, visit the uSSSap Tayo Portal at https://crms.sss.gov.ph, follow the SSS on Facebook at “Philippine Social Security System - SSS,” Instagram and YouTube at “mysssph,” Twitter at “PHLSSS,” or join its Viber Community at “MYSSSPH Updates.”

What is life like in Transnistria, the last Soviet stronghold in Europe?

Wazzup Pilipinas!



Transnistria is an unrecognised, separatist state on the territory of Moldova. Its independence is recognised only by Abkhazia, the Republic of Artsakh and South Ossetia, so regions that have limited recognition themselves.

In Transnistria, the majority of people speak Russian as opposed to Moldovan and the region has its own currency, the Transnistrian ruble. The republic also issues its own Transnistrian passports to its citizens but as Vlad, a man who was born and raised there, told me, people who live have dual citizenship of Transnistria and Moldova.

To reach Transnistria, it is necessary to go through a border crossing where foreigners are issued short-term visas. The validity of the visa depends on how much time one wants to spend there.

What makes Transnistria unique is the fact that, to this day, the republic is a Soviet stronghold and it seems like not much has changed there since the USSR fell. For example, hammer and sickle symbols can be observed everywhere, including on the republic’s official flag. Similarly, Lenin statues can be found at every corner.

Statue of Lenin in front of the building of the Transnistria Parliament

Statue of Lenin and the Transnistria Parliament in Tiraspol, the capital of Transnistria

The emblem of the USSR at the main square in Tiraspol

Streets of Tiraspol, Transnistria’s biggest city

The outskirts of Tiraspol

Rural Transnistria

Soviet stars on a gate to someone’s property

An abandoned Soviet school

Broken windows in the abandoned school

Soviet military training posters

Flag of Transnistria with hammer and sickle symbol


Transnistria is like no other place in Europe and when walking around Tiraspol and smaller cities one is under the impression that they went back in time to Soviet times.

Living in this state stuck in frozen-conflict, not recognised by any UN member is not easy as there are few jobs available and university degrees received in Transnistria are not recognised anywhere else.

That is why most young people go to the capital of Moldova or to Russia to study and then build their lives elsewhere. In turn, Transnistria, already abandoned by the international community, is also being left behind by its own people.



About the author:

Katarzyna Rybarczyk is a Political Correspondent for Immigration Advice Service, an immigration law firm operating globally and providing legal aid to forcibly displaced persons. Through her articles, she aims to raise awareness about security threats worldwide and the challenges facing communities living in low and middle-income countries.