FIRING LINE

FIRING LINE: Is Joel making a move in Bulacan? By Robert B. Roque Jr | August 6, 2026 Sixteen out of twenty-four. That was the headcount when Sen. Joel Villanueva convened Bulacan’s mayors — Angat, Balagtas, Baliwag, Bocaue, Calumpit, Doña Remedios Trinidad, Guiguinto, Hagonoy, Marilao, Norzagaray, Obando, Pandi, Paombong, Pulilan, San Ildefonso, and San Miguel…

FIRING LINE: Some trash talk By Robert B. Roque Jr | August 4, 2026 There is a truth so common it barely needs an Ombudsman to say it out loud. Yet Boying Remulla said it anyway, if only to expose the filth of its nature: garbage collection has been a racket in almost every city…

FIRING LINE: Are we doing enough to protect the youth? By Robert B. Roque Jr. | July 28, 2026 Two Sundays ago on July 19, screenshots began circulating of chat threads allegedly plotting coordinated attacks by apparently radicalized teenagers on three Quezon City public schools — Flora Ylagan High School in Diliman, Ramon Magsaysay High…

FIRING LINE: Most expensive power in Southeast Asia By Robert B. Roque Jr. | July 23, 2026 There must be a reckoning for a government that lets its people burn the most expensive electricity in Southeast Asia while it hands out warnings instead of consequences. June’s numbers are already a scandal: P12.43 per kilowatt-hour, the…

FIRING LINE: ‘Unwelcome here!’  By Robert B. Roque Jr. | July 16, 2026 There is perhaps no harsher indictment of a public utility than hearing an entire city say, “You’re no longer welcome here.” That is exactly what happened in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan, where the city council passed a resolution declaring PrimeWater Infrastructure…

FIRING LINE: Now that the calm is gone By Robert B. Roque Jr. | July 9, 2026 Just as we saw petroleum prices easing the last few weeks, buoyed by a calming situation in the Strait of Hormuz, comes another rude awakening: Washington and Tehran’s cease-fire has collapsed, and the region is once again primed…

FIRING LINE: Robed as judges after Senate shooting By Robert B. Roque Jr. | July 9, 2026 If you missed it while everyone was glued to the Senate impeachment trial, the Office of the Ombudsman has already settled the question of who was responsible for the May 13 shootout at the Senate. Its findings were…

FIRING LINE: When no lives matter By Robert B. Roque Jr. | July 7, 2026 As schools and law enforcement move on from the June 22 shooting at San Jose National High School in Tacloban, efforts are underway to tighten campus security and rebuild trust for our children. It’s good to see counseling being offered…