mag-, pag-, makapag-
to assert; to say.
I shall even assert, if only [he] were my sibling [I] would have smacked [him] a long time ago because [he] is so rebellious.
I am able to assert, if it were not for him helping me, I would have already been lost.
He says, I am even falling, so intense is the earthquake's strength! ["He says" is idiomatic when someone is talking to himself.]