Host-vlogger Mariel Rodriguez-Padilla pushed back against renewed criticism of a 2022 vlog in which she appeared to credit her husband, Sen. Robin Padilla, with helping pass a law before he became a lawmaker.
In a video posted Sunday, Aug. 9, Mariel said her remarks had been taken literally and argued that she had been referring to how Robin’s experience with firearms laws figured into discussions surrounding Republic Act 8294.
“Tinatanong ng mga tao, anong gagawin niyan?” Mariel recalled telling viewers in 2022, when Robin was running for senator for the first time. Her husband appears briefly in the background.
‘So, sinabi ko nasa Bilibid pa lang siya, eh, gumagawa na sila ng batas. Tinake ‘yan literally. Siyempre hindi ka makakapasa ng batas kung hindi ka senator,’ Mariel said.
Mariel further argued that Robin’s case became associated with the issue addressed by RA 8294, which amended laws on illegal possession of firearms.
“When Robin was in Bilibid, his case became closely associated with the issue that RA 8294 addressed – illegal possession of firearms. RA 8294 was enacted in 1997 while he was incarcerated. Now, IF gamitin natin ang talino na binigay sa atin ng Maykapal… sino kaya ang nag-draft at nagpasa ng bill na naging RA 8294? Obviously, legislators,” she wrote.
Robin was jailed in 1994 for illegal possession of firearms and was granted conditional pardon by former President Fidel V. Ramos four years later.
In 2016, former President Rodrigo Duterte granted him absolute pardon, restoring his political rights ahead of his successful Senate run in 2022 on the slate of the Uniteam alliance of Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and Sara Duterte. The political tandem eventually won the presidential and vice-presidential race in the 2022 national elections before the two top officials had a rift.
Mariel said Robin’s experience had been used as a case study in discussions surrounding amendments to the firearms law. Robin also appeared in the video to discuss Presidential Decree 1866, signed by Marcos Sr. on June 29, 1983, on the unlawful possession of firearms. The 1983 decree was later amended by RA 8294.
‘That was exactly the point. Robin was NOT a senator then, and I never meant that he literally sat in Congress, authored the bill, and voted for its passage. His experience was being cited to show that even before becoming a senator, he had firsthand experience of how laws – and changes in laws – can directly affect a person’s life,’ Mariel stressed.
‘Context matters. Comprehension matters too,’ Mariel ended.