diff --git a/code/fcpxml/model_manager.py b/code/fcpxml/model_manager.py
index 18e211d..77c86f6 100644
--- a/code/fcpxml/model_manager.py
+++ b/code/fcpxml/model_manager.py
@@ -644,7 +644,14 @@ DEFAULT_SILENCE_CONFIG: dict = {
     # Seconds a quiet stretch must last before it's a cut candidate.
     "min_silence": 0.5,
     # Seconds left inside each cut so speech never gets clipped at the edges.
-    "padding": 0.05,
+    # 0.2s matches the breathing-room convention for phrase-boundary cuts
+    # (see editar-por-voz/criterios/06-texto-corte-marcador.md) — a silence
+    # span this tool finds is often the natural breath before a new
+    # sentence, not just editing slop, and 0.05s shaved that breath down to
+    # almost nothing (real case: Mastopexia project, the pause before "Com"
+    # went from 0.567s to 0.1s across the cut, landing the next clip only
+    # 5ms after the word instead of a natural pause before it).
+    "padding": 0.2,
 }
 
 
diff --git a/code/server_tools/qc.py b/code/server_tools/qc.py
index 47b4e69..a4e5679 100644
--- a/code/server_tools/qc.py
+++ b/code/server_tools/qc.py
@@ -155,7 +155,7 @@ TOOLS = [
                         "filepath": {"type": "string", "description": "Path to FCPXML file"},
                         "noise_db": {"type": "number", "description": "Silence threshold in dBFS, -120 to 0. Falls back to the saved silence settings (default -30)"},
                         "min_silence": {"type": "number", "description": "Minimum silence duration in seconds to cut. Falls back to the saved silence settings (default 0.5)"},
-                        "padding": {"type": "number", "description": "Seconds of silence to keep on each side of a cut so edits breathe (max 5). Falls back to the saved silence settings (default 0.05)"},
+                        "padding": {"type": "number", "description": "Seconds of silence to keep on each side of a cut so edits breathe (max 5). Falls back to the saved silence settings (default 0.2)"},
                         "clip_name": {"type": "string", "description": "Only cut silence in the clip with this name"},
                         "output_path": {"type": "string", "description": "Output path (default: adds _silence_removed suffix)"},
                     },