Robin Padilla received negative reactions over a Facebook post that read:
“War in the Middle East resulting in terrorism in different parts of the world. The looming involvement of the Philippines in the China-Taiwan conflict. Isn’t this considered force majeure?”
Many believed this was Robin’s response to Risa Hontiveros, who questioned why the Senate majority wanted videoconferencing similar to what was allowed during the 2021 committee hearings involving former Senator Leila de Lima. Hontiveros pointed out that the world was under the Covid-19 pandemic at that time, unlike today.
“You are creating frightening scenarios just to justify the rules you are forcing through. Has the thinking of a senator really sunk this low?” one netizen commented against Robin.
Another netizen explained: “Force majeure is a legal concept referring to unforeseen and unavoidable events that are already happening. It cannot be applied to situations that are merely looming or still possible in the future.”
However, Robin later posted again and insisted that his argument was correct. According to him, force majeure should also include “human-caused disturbances such as war, terrorist attacks, riots or labor strikes.” / TRC
