In the high-stakes, smoke-filled, and often brutal theater of Philippine politics, there are few forces more disruptive than an “insider” who decides to go rogue. For months, the public has watched the carefully choreographed performance of unity from the current administration, a “UniTeam” that, on the surface, moves in lockstep.

That performance has just been shattered.

A “shocking” new report has detonated in the nation’s capital, and its message is as simple as it is devastating: Teddy Locsin Jr. “kumanta na.” He has started to sing.

This is not a minor tune. This is a full-blown “pasabog” (bombshell), an operatic exposé from one of the most powerful, brilliant, and famously sharp-tongued figures within the government itself. Teddy Locsin Jr.—the former Foreign Affairs Secretary, the former UN Ambassador, and the current Special Envoy to China—has broken ranks.

The “shocking good news,” as critics and opposition figures are calling it, is that this “song” is not aimed at a political rival. It is a direct, calculated “answer” aimed at the very heart of the administration’s power structure: Justice Secretary Boying Remulla, and by extension, “lahat sa Palasyo at Kamara” (everyone in the Palace and Congress).

This is not a disagreement. This is an internal, political “reckoning,” and it is happening live, for all the world to see. The “UniTeam” is not, it seems, united at all.

To understand the magnitude of this, one must first understand the man. Teodoro “Teddy” Locsin Jr. is not a typical politician. He is a “wild card,” an aristocrat, a former journalist, and a diplomat whose decades-long career has been defined by his refusal to “suffer fools,” his famously acidic wit on social media, and an intellectual arrogance that often sees him “fact-checking” his own allies.

He is the ultimate “insider,” a man who knows where every “body” is buried because he has likely seen the receipts. For this man to “sing” is not just a “scandal”; it is a systemic failure. It is a signal that the internal fractures have become so deep that even a man of his stature and loyalty can no longer contain them.

The report’s central claim is that Locsin has “sinagot” (answered) Justice Secretary Remulla. This is a clash of titans. Remulla, a formidable political operator from a powerful Cavite dynasty, is the very embodiment of the administration’s “iron fist.” He is the “law and order” pillar, the man who runs the Department of Justice, a key gatekeeper of the nation’s legal and political machinery.

For Locsin, the “intellectual” and “diplomat,” to “answer” Remulla, the “brawler” and “enforcer,” is a sign of a profound, ideological civil war.

While the exact “song” that Locsin sang is still being deciphered from the political fallout, the implications are clear. It is a challenge. It is a public “exposé” of a policy or action taken by Remulla, the Palace, or Congress that Locsin deems catastrophic.

Given Locsin’s current role as Special Envoy to China, the “song” is almost certainly about the one topic that divides the nation: foreign policy and national sovereignty.

Has Remulla’s DOJ taken an action that complicates the Philippines’ delicate dance with China? Has Locsin, the “diplomat,” seen his hard work “sabotaged” by the “hard-liners” in the Justice department? Or is this about something even deeper, such as the International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation, a topic that Remulla has vehemently opposed?

If Locsin has “sung” about the ICC, it would be a “bombshell” that paralyzes the entire government. It would be a “good news” for human rights advocates, but a “nightmare” for the Palace.

The report claims the “answer” was not just for Remulla, but for “everyone in the Palace and Congress.” This is the “scorched-earth” element of Locsin’s “song.” He is not just “correcting” a colleague; he is “indicting” the entire system. He is, in effect, accusing the executive and legislative branches of a “failure”—a failure of policy, a failure of intellect, or a failure of integrity.

This is what makes it “shocking good news” for the opposition. When your enemies are fighting each other, the battle is half-won. The “UniTeam,” the most dominant political force in a generation, is now, allegedly, eating itself alive.

The “chaos” in the “Palasyo” (Palace) and “Kamara” (Congress) is palpable. How do you respond to Teddy Locsin Jr.?

To ignore him is impossible. His “song” is now “viral.” He is too high-profile, his voice too loud.

To “fire” him is equally impossible. Firing your Special Envoy to China, a man of Locsin’s international stature, in the middle of a delicate geopolitical crisis, would be a sign of catastrophic instability. It would be an admission of guilt.

To “censure” him is laughable. Locsin, a man who has traded barbs with world leaders on Twitter (X), does not “censure.”

This leaves the administration, from Remulla to the highest offices in the Palace, in a state of political “paralysis.” They are “tamba” (knocked out), as one source might say. They have been hit by their own “insider,” and any move they make will only make the situation worse.

The “UniTeam’s” entire brand was built on “unity.” This “unity” was its “shield.” Locsin, with his “song,” has just taken that shield, and in the words of a Marvel movie, “used it as a frisbee.” He has exposed the “unity” as a “fraud.”

This is a story that is just beginning. The “song” has been sung. The “truth,” or at least Locsin’s version of it, is out. And now, the public, the opposition, and the entire world are watching as the “insiders” are forced to deal with the music.

For critics of the administration, it is, indeed, “shocking good news.” It is the sound of the “unsinkable” ship finally, and publicly, admitting it is taking on water. And the man who is pointing to the hole is the one who, until now, was one of its chief engineers.