Don’t look now, but if you’re rooting for Sara Duterte to win in 2028, the numbers are starting to tell a less comfortable story. Take the latest Pulse Asia survey, for example: the Vice President is still ahead, but no longer a force you would instantly call a runaway winner.

The poll, conducted Feb. 27 to March 2, shows that in a straight VP Duterte-Mayor Leni Robredo matchup, respondents are at 51% to 43%. That’s an eight-point gap that looks sturdy until you remember where this race once stood. Earlier multi-candidate soundings had Leni Robredo languishing in single digits. Now, in a forced choice, she’s within striking distance.

Also, take note that this voter sampling was taken before the impeachment process against the VP came rolling full-steam ahead. Personally, I expect significant changes if the polling were done today. Or maybe not.

Analysts point out that the regional and class breakdowns remain a defining factor for these results. Duterte dominates Mindanao (93%) and the Visayas (67%), while Robredo commands Balance Luzon (67%) and edges the National Capital Region, 42% to 41%. More telling: Robredo leads decisively among Class ABC voters (63%), while Duterte’s strength is anchored in Classes D (53%) and E (74%). That’s not just a demographic split — it’s a map of where persuasion, resources, and narrative-setting power tend to flow.

Then comes the Raffy Tulfo variable — one that my good friend in the Senate does not seriously pay attention to. Although I think, even just to amuse him and his friends, he should. And here’s why.

Against Duterte, Tulfo forces a statistical deadlock at 46% apiece. And crucially, his strength in Balance Luzon (72% to Duterte’s 19%) and competitiveness in Class D suggest he siphons from Duterte’s coalition more than Robredo’s. In a three-way race, Duterte still leads at 43%, but Robredo (27%) and Tulfo (19%) compress the field enough to erase any illusion of inevitability.

Two years is an eternity in Philippine politics. But one thing this survey clearly magnifies in my mind is that invincibility does not belong to Sara Duterte when we talk about 2028. Perhaps that should simmer and settle more in the minds of senators who would be in a unique position to sit in judgment should the articles of impeachment reach their chamber.

Because if this data tells us anything, it is that the presidency is far from a sealed deal. And if it is not a sealed deal, then there is no rational basis — none at all — for fear to creep into an institution that is constitutionally bound to act with independence.

The Senate, when convened as an impeachment court, is not a political extension of whoever might win next. It is a constitutional body tasked to weigh evidence, test accountability, and render judgment without favor or fear. That duty does not bend to survey numbers. It certainly should not cower before them.

To hesitate, to hedge, or worse, to preemptively shield a sitting Vice President on the assumption that she is the “next president anyway” is not prudence — it is abdication.

If the articles arrive, the Senate must do its job. Fully. Fairly. Fearlessly.

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SHORT BURSTS. For comments or reactions, email firingline@ymail.com or tweet @Side_View via X app (formerly Twitter). Read current and past issues of this column at https://www.thephilbiznews.com

“London Bridge is falling down, falling down…” is a well-known nursery rhyme meant to entertain young children miming as they sing. Up in Northern Luzon, however, it seems that bridge falls are a recurring headline.

Over the weekend, the Kaliwet Bailey detour bridge in Santo Domingo, Ilocos Sur, literally fell after a 20-ton truck — that’s four times the five-ton limit — crossed its span. The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has since rushed in to set up a temporary access route.

But in no sense is that, or even the government’s promise of accountability, comforting. Why? This is the third time a bridge has collapsed in the northern region since March last year. Yes, we’ve seen this twice last year.

In the Cabagan–Sta. Maria Bridge collapse, blame initially veered toward “design flaws.” But engineers later pointed to a far simpler truth: a 102-ton truck crossing a bridge rated for barely half that. Overloading, plain and simple — enabled by a system that failed to stop it.

Then, in October, the Piggatan Bridge in Alcala crumbled under the weight of three trucks hauling palay. Again, the easy culprit was the trucker. The harder truth was institutional neglect: bridges built for a bygone era, left unreinforced for modern loads, and barely monitored.

Now, here we are again — in Ilocos Sur, no less. Three collapses. Same story. Same failures. All in the northern corridor — Regions 1 and 2 — President Bongbong Marcos’s bailiwick. Shouldn’t these incidents be particularly alarming for him? And yet it happens with unbelievable frequency.

The DPWH says it will hold the truck operator accountable in this latest incident. Fine. But accountability cannot stop at the driver’s seat. It must climb the chain — into the offices that allowed these violations to pass unchecked.

Three collapses in one region are not a coincidence or a string of bad luck. It points more to a broken system of guarding public infrastructure. So, Mr. President, when’s the next scheduled time for a falling bridge?

Inciting a riot

Going viral on May 1 were not the issues chanted in the usual Labor Day march, but an absolute airhead who supplanted the protest in Manila by swinging at a cop peacefully holding his ground. The video shows this tough guy, his face covered, and instead of marching to the beat of workers’ rights, goes full kanto — throwing punches at a cop, nearly sparking a brawl.

The Manila Police District and the Philippine National Police (PNP) held the line with maximum tolerance despite the cheap shot. The cops on the frontline did not retaliate with a punch. That’s discipline, Mr. Tough Guy.

The good thing is, his face has been visible in other video footage, and so the hunt is on. Let me egg on the PNP to go get this guy behind bars, where he can think of putting his energies to better use, since he doesn’t seem capable of respecting the work of others.

Guys like these with mighty arms and strength in those pecs have no right being a goofball at the picket line, derailing legitimate grievances. Instead of representing the labor sector with dignity, he embarrasses it. I hope he learns his lesson in jail.

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SHORT BURSTS. For comments or reactions, email firingline@ymail.com or tweet @Side_View via X app (formerly Twitter). Read current and past issues of this column at https://www.thephilbiznews.com

Nowadays, it seems everyone on Facebook wants to be counted among the 4Ps beneficiaries. And I don’t blame them. Because when “ordinary Filipinos in the working class” open their electric bills and discover they are helping shoulder discounts for others, their reaction can easily be envy, if not rage.

Let’s put it in proper context: Filipinos are good-natured; nobody is begrudging “the elderly and the below, the below poverty-line so to speak” for enjoying a little relief. In hard times, subsidies for the poorest are necessary.

That is not the issue, although some — out of exasperation — do bring the argument there where the poor are often favored and the dictum that “those who have less in life must have more in justice” becomes oppressive.

The issue for most in the working class is this: why are struggling working families being quietly tapped to pay for this “ayuda”?

A household that consumes over 200 kWh a month is hardly living in luxury. That could be a family of five in a cramped apartment, a multigenerational household sharing one meter, or a breadwinner who simply needs fans and lights running through the brutal summer heat. Is that now a punishable offense?

That is why Senators Bam Aquino and Risa Hontiveros are right to demand accountability, if not a lot of explaining, from the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC). Aquino has filed Senate Resolution No. 375, seeking a Senate inquiry into the implementation of the Expanded Lifeline Rate Act, arguing that subsidies for marginalized consumers should be funded through government appropriations.

Perhaps, even a full review of Meralco’s collections and, subsequently, ordering refunds for excessive charges if warranted must be explored, as Hontiveros suggested. 

What has been quietly implemented has hit hard on most households, and the outrage has gone through opposite ends of the Senate political spectrum. I mean, from these two kakampinks, all the way to diehard-Sara supporter, Sen. Imee Marcos, lawmakers are noticing how this setup is unacceptable.

Taken all together, their message is simple: helping the poor should not come at the expense of the struggling middle that has been living literally from paycheck to paycheck.

To be fair, this is not entirely Meralco’s doing. The utility is implementing a subsidy system mandated under the Expanded Lifeline Rate Law and ERC regulations. The charge is small — roughly ₱2 for a household consuming 200 kWh — but that misses the point. 

If the government wants to provide ayuda-level discounts or zero billing for the poorest, then fund it through the national budget. Spread the responsibility through the thickening treasure chest of government padded by gross taxation. Am I right, Executive Secretary Ralph Recto?

Last month, President Marcos was enjoying a rebound in public approval, but nothing erodes goodwill faster than making hardworking Filipinos feel punished for working. That will drag BBM’s numbers back to Middle-earth.

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The persistence of illegal gambling in our communities is not just a matter of vice — it is a reflection of how deeply organized networks can embed themselves into everyday life when oversight falters.

A recent emailed complaint I received from a resident of Marikina brings this reality into sharp focus, alleging the operation of a gambling syndicate within Provident Subdivision that runs illegal bookmaking for EZ2-Lotto, alongside hybrid and traditional forms of jueteng.

These are not small, isolated activities. According to information gathered, the operation is reportedly led by an individual known as “Pinong,” with a system that appears both structured and insulated. The involvement of a so-called bagman — identified as “Jojo,” a retired policeman of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group — raises even more troubling questions. If true, this suggests not only organization but also a level of protection that allows such operations to continue with minimal disruption.

The scale is equally concerning. Collections allegedly reach millions of pesos across eastern Metro Manila, indicating a network that is both expansive and financially entrenched.

Even more revealing is the reported shift in Quezon City, where a competing operation was effectively absorbed after “Pinong” offered higher commissions to supervisors (known as cabo) of local collection agents. By increasing their share from 35 percent to 50 percent, he reportedly consolidated control over the area’s gambling proceeds. This is not just illegal activity — it is a market strategy applied to an underground enterprise.

What emerges is a picture of a syndicate that behaves less like a loose criminal group and more like a coordinated business, complete with incentives, territorial expansion, and operational hierarchy. That should concern anyone who believes that illegal gambling is a minor or victimless issue.

Mayor Maan Teodoro would be well within her mandate to examine these allegations closely. Whether they ultimately prove accurate or not, the seriousness of the claims alone warrants scrutiny. Local governments play a critical role in maintaining public order, and allegations of this magnitude — especially those hinting at possible links to law enforcement — cannot simply be ignored.

At its core, this issue is about more than gambling. It is about governance, accountability, and the rule of law. When illegal systems begin to mirror legitimate institutions in scale and efficiency, it signals a deeper problem — one that requires not just enforcement, but political will.

If communities are to remain secure and institutions credible, concerns like these must be addressed transparently and decisively. Silence, in cases like this, only strengthens the very networks that operate in the shadows.

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SHORT BURSTS. For comments or reactions, email firingline@ymail.com or tweet @Side_View via X app (formerly Twitter). Read current and past issues of this column at https://www.thephilbiznews.com

There is nothing novel about enforcing order in the streets. What is new?

Senator Robin Padilla is one of the names being floated in discussions for the vice presidency in 2028, largely on account of his winnability. Well, if helping lead this country is all about popularity, then we will never run out of celebrities running for office till kingdom come.

And what was his response to the talk?

He said that if former president Rodrigo Duterte instructs him to run for vice president, he would do so.

He did not say that if Duterte told him to jump off a bridge, he would obey — but judging by that line of thinking, one gets the sense that if he were told to bark like a dog, he probably would.

If this is the mentality of a possible future vice president — one whose political ambition depends entirely on the instruction of an ex-president many now call a berdugo — then what kind of leadership can the nation expect?

Unfortunately, Padilla’s logic mirrors that of many Duterte Diehard Supporters, or DDS: if Duterte says Padilla should run, then Padilla should run; if Duterte says vote for him, then they will vote for him.

What is less certain is whether this is truly what pro-Duterte Filipinos want for the country. Yet because of blind faith in a leader whose time is up — and whose political future appears increasingly bleak — they may still rally behind candidates out of loyalty rather than discernment.

The election is still far off, but perhaps now is the time for voters, especially the die-hards, to ask themselves whether their loyalty is to a political figure or to the nation itself.

Because the reality is this: Rodrigo Duterte is not returning to the presidency. His remaining power lies only in endorsing those around him, and perhaps not because they are the most capable, but because they are the most loyal.

And that is where the danger begins.

Public office is not a favor to be granted by political patronage, nor is national leadership something to be handed down as an act of obedience. To seek the vice presidency not out of conviction, competence, or vision, but simply because a former president said so, is to reduce the office into a reward for loyalty.

That is not leadership.

That is submission dressed up as public service — and a country that accepts that kind of reasoning risks electing not leaders, but extensions of another man’s will.

To see how disastrously this kind of politics can go, one need only look back at 2022.

I have heard even from DDS friends that Rodrigo Duterte himself did not believe Sara Duterte was ready for the presidency and had preferred Sen. Bong Go as his successor. To many of them, it made perfect sense. Bong Go had national recall through the Malasakit Centers; he enjoyed the public trust carried over from Duterte’s popularity, and after years as Duterte’s closest aide, he seemed the most natural extension of the former president’s leadership.

In other words, he was viewed as the safest political heir.

But Sara Duterte had other plans. Rather than spend six years as vice president under her father’s chosen successor, she chose to align herself with Ferdinand Marcos Jr., handing the Marcoses a path back to Malacañang in exchange for her own ascent.

And we all know where that alliance stands now.

That is precisely the danger in entertaining candidacies built merely on loyalty to a political patron. When the nation chooses leaders based on allegiance, familiarity, or borrowed popularity rather than competence and vision, public office becomes part of a power arrangement rather than an instrument of national progress.

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Like a game of chess, Zaldy Co — the alleged “King” of the flood control scam — has finally been cornered. Arrested in the Czech Republic, his endgame has come. Czechmate!

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SHORT BURSTS. For comments or reactions, email firingline@ymail.com or tweet @Side_View via X app (formerly Twitter). Read current and past issues of this column at https://www.thephilbiznews.com

Thank you, Mr. President. Not only did you suspend the excise tax on kerosene and LPG (or cooking gas) this week, but you also gave working Filipinos a grace period to settle their taxes.

The extension of the 2025 annual income tax return (ITR) filing deadline from April 15 to May 15 surely does more than buy time. Effectively, it lowers the cost of compliance since the ITR is a full-year accounting of income, deductions, and the final tax due or refundable.

By moving the deadline, the government effectively removes a month’s worth of potential penalties and surcharges for late or incomplete filings, giving taxpayers room to gather documents and file accurately through the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR)’s electronic channels or authorized banks.

In a time when fuel prices have surged, transport fares are biting deeper into daily wages, and even basic goods are inching up on the back of a 4.1% inflation rate, leaving families to stretch every peso from fare to food, that matters.

And so, the suspension of excise on liquefied petroleum gas and kerosene is another wise targeted price intervention. Excise is a fixed tax layered onto fuel; take it out and retail prices can ease almost immediately for households that cook with LPG or rely on kerosene.

To critics who have been trying to block the suspension of the oil tax — yes, it doesn’t resolve broader fuel inflation, but it offers quick, direct relief where it is most felt: in the kitchen and at home.

The excise remains intact for diesel and gasoline. That’s why prices remain sky-high despite a significant rollback last Tuesday — the first one since the global supply shock we’re struggling with since the US-Israel war with Iran broke out and spread chaos and tension across oil-producing Arab states.

I heard somewhere it took a lot of high-pitched face-to-face scowling from a work-from-home Cabinet member to bamboozle oil company executives into ensuring a big-time rollback was in place this week.

And for those social media know-it-all posers who have spent the past week manufacturing Stage 4 illnesses and calling real journalists “bayaran” — here’s an antidote to your tall tales. Not only is Bongbong Marcos doing jumping jacks in the street and at his own live press conference, but he’s made two of the best decisions he’s ever made during a crisis this week.

Sorry to those who wish him dead and speculate he is a “dead man walking, but these two decisions — moving the tax filing deadline and suspending the excise on critical oil products — are hard evidence that the President is alive, working, and governing.

Contrast that with the political theater we have seen elsewhere: public officials delivering rambling or “meow-ing” in the middle of disjointed statements that raise more questions than answers; others disappearing from public view when they’re paid to attend Congress; still others turning governance into spectacle, mistaking volume for substance. It says something about our discourse when proof of life becomes a rebuttal to propaganda.

But here we are. Two concrete measures, one clear message: the President is not only present — he is, by all visible accounts, in good health and sound in body and mind.

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SHORT BURSTS. For comments or reactions, email firingline@ymail.com or tweet @Side_View via X app (formerly Twitter). Read current and past issues of this column at https://www.thephilbiznews.com

There is nothing novel about enforcing order in the streets. What is new these days is the renewed posturing by this government that it holds the moral ascendancy and political will to get the job of peace and order done right.

This month, under the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG)’s Safer Cities Initiative, Secretary Jonvic Remulla moved to tighten long-standing local ordinances: no drinking in public streets, no loitering minors past 10 p.m. without a valid reason, no shirtless wandering in shared spaces, and no late-night videoke excess. It is, as he framed it, a simple appeal to civility backed by enforcement.

The logic behind this is hardly controversial — street drinking breeds altercations, noise disturbs communities, and unsupervised minors invite risk.

On its opening salvo, the Philippine National Police (PNP) delivered numbers that suggest seriousness: 11,676 individuals flagged on day one, including 1,004 minors, across key Metro Manila corridors from Timog and Katipunan to Poblacion and Roxas Boulevard. This is what political will looks like when translated into visible patrols.

And yet, almost immediately, the backlash came loud, viral, and often disassociated from the policy itself. Construction workers were rounded up for being shirtless. Students were questioned in spite of legitimate school duties. Even reports — isolated but troubling — of officers overstepping, entering private property to accost residents. These are not trivial concerns; they are precisely the excesses that erode legitimacy.

But much of the outrage is also framed on faulty premises. The rules are not new laws; they are the enforcement of existing ordinances. Minors, under R.A. 9344, cannot be jailed for curfew violations. Responsibility lies with guardians, and enforcement must remain community-based. These guardrails exist and must be followed.

Still, the deeper complication is political memory. Critics are quick to liken this to the hardline playbook of Rodrigo Duterte, whose Davao model of order came with a national legacy of fear, excess, and bloodshed. That history lingers, and it shapes how every police action today is viewed, often with suspicion.

Which is why discipline within the ranks matters more than ever. The recent PNPA hazing scandal — 22 plebes injured, three cadets arrested under the watch of an institution meant to mold law enforcers — exposes a rot that no street campaign can mask. PNP Chief Jose Melencio Nartatez, Jr. has ordered reforms, but the outrage is justified. If future officers are brutalized into leadership, then brutality becomes culture.

Just weeks ago, President Bongbong Marcos called for zero tolerance on abuse and corruption. That call now meets its test.

At the end of the day, I’m with the DILG on this: public order is not optional because communities function best when rules are followed. The Marcos Junior administration — for all its faults and blunders — should not backtrack from instilling discipline in citizens.

Yes, the most undisciplined and corrupt may be found in government. But giving law violators a pass does not cure that perception, anyway. It at all, it allows both government and the public to drift further back into weak moral fiber in society.

So carry on with the clampdown on noisy, disobedient, and chaotic residents. However, make sure enforcement does not rely on brute force or a passionate act of muscle and numbers. Rather, cops must suit up with compassion, where their actions show restraint, clarity, and humanity.

Hold the line. Clean your ranks. Enforce the law.

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SHORT BURSTS. For comments or reactions, email firingline@ymail.com or tweet @Side_View via X app (formerly Twitter). Read current and past issues of this column at https://www.thephilbiznews.com

I’ve read with bitter contempt how farmers are affected by this crisis — and the anger sits heavy because the facts are as plain as they are unforgiving.

In Benguet, a Reuters story carried by an online news organization recounts how farmers like Romeo leave their vegetable crops to rot. And all because the math of cost and profit no longer makes sense.

When it costs P18 to P20 to produce a kilo of cabbage and the farmgate price collapses to as low as P3 — even P5 to P8 on a “good” day — harvesting becomes an act of self-sabotage. Add to that the surge in fuel prices, itself a ripple from conflict in the Middle East, and the math turns cruel: labor, hauling, packaging — all rising, all eating into nothing.

So farmers stop. Buyers pull back. Consumers, squeezed by inflation, shift to cheaper, filling alternatives. And just like that, a food chain buckles from both ends.

This is why the Department of Agriculture’s fuel subsidy, finally rolling out this April, is not just welcome — it is necessary, justified spending. It promises P5,000 for farmers, P3,000 for fisherfolk, alongside a broader P10-billion cash aid program covering over 4 million beneficiaries, which is the kind of intervention that recognizes a basic truth: You cannot expect food security from producers who are bleeding.

During the Holy Week, I’ve heard of Catholic devotees trimming their Visita Iglesia routes, choosing churches closer to one another, even walking the distance, just to save on fuel. Quiet sacrifice and real adjustments are lived by Pinoys these days, knowing inflation bites, and soon the cost of food will be the bigger scourge.

Hopefully, those in government, so fond of long motorcades and frequent travel, might consider the same discipline. If meetings can be held online, perhaps they should be — stay at home, if you can’t travel without your exaggerated security convoy.

Spending should be back where it should be — with the farmers. Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. says the government is doing more: mobilizing trucks to move produce, securing cheaper fertilizers, expanding Kadiwa outlets, fast-tracking farm-to-market roads, and post-harvest facilities. These are the right moves, at least on paper.

But more should be done by those in power who never tilled land nor brought crops to market. Local governments in agricultural provinces must now do the unglamorous work: Connect farmers to these subsidies, ensure the aid reaches the fields, not just the reports. This is taxpayers’ money — it must land where the pain is.

This crisis is already punishing enough without fuel. But to fail in producing our own food — in a world where supply chains are strained and imports uncertain — would be a deeper scandal.

The government must work doubly hard. And if it does — truly, decisively — perhaps this moment becomes something more than a crisis. Perhaps it becomes some form of redemption. Yes, even for Marcos Junior.

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SHORT BURSTS. For comments or reactions, email firingline@ymail.com or tweet @Side_View via X app (formerly Twitter). Read current and past issues of this column at https://www.thephilbiznews.com

Inevitably, and by all indications, fuel prices will rise again. If it has not already, since today is Tuesday.

Let’s take liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), for example, which is more of a fuel of necessity for most Filipino households. As of this writing (Easter Sunday) and depending on where you are and what brand of cooking gas you order for your kitchen, the real pain is already here.

Where I am from in Quezon City, the 11-kilogram LPG tank I regularly get is now brushing the P1,800 range, from the P1,160 price just a little over a month ago. And this is for a commodity government insists is not in short supply.

If that claim is true, the price is punishing for a fuel not short in supply. When LPG climbs, the stomach surely grumbles: ulam at the karinderya is either more expensive or spread out on the plate like half an order; rice servings are shaved; and the pandesal shrinks quietly without much complaint from customers.

We Pinoys are headed for dieting, abstinence, or fasting well beyond the Lenten Season. A less-fed Juan and Juana, though, may be music to the ears of the congresswoman who announced several weeks ago that our nation should be alarmed, as over 40+ percent of our adult population is obese or overweight. Well, perhaps here’s an opportunity to force a national diet.

Sadly, we can’t kid ourselves. This is certainly not a solution for better health, but about inflation tightening its grip.

Diesel is projected to spike by as much as ₱20 per liter. Gasoline and kerosene follow. Public transport, logistics, food chains — all will adjust, and never seem downward as the real pressures of wars in the Middle East and even between Russia and Ukraine bear down on the throats of nations like ours that are dependent on oil imports.

Which is precisely why the fake “energy lockdown” advisory that spread like wildfire over Holy Week is not just irresponsible — it is dangerous.

Malacañang, through Usec. Claire Castro has repeatedly shut it down: there is no energy lockdown on April 20. President Marcos Jr. himself has assured supply stability through June 30. And yet, rumor merchants persist — complete with forged logos and doomsday checklists urging people to hoard.

This is not harmless chatter. It is economic sabotage.

False claims distort behavior. They trigger panic-buying, strain supply chains, and artificially drive up prices. They erode trust in institutions at the very moment clarity is needed. In a fragile energy environment, misinformation doesn’t just mislead — it manipulates markets.

Firing Line is full-on behind Acting Communications Secretary Dave Gomez when he said there must be zero tolerance for purveyors of fake news on energy issues. The law is clear and should be applied to them — because those who deliberately spread lies in a time of economic strain are enemies from within.

They are market saboteurs, preying on public anxiety, distorting prices, and pushing ordinary Filipinos closer to panic, scarcity, and unnecessary hardship.

At this time, Filipinos must learn to consume information the way they should consume fuel in a crisis — carefully, deliberately, and from reliable sources. Not every forwarded message deserves belief. Not every viral post deserves a share.

We are already dealing with enough real problems. We do not need invented ones.

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SHORT BURSTS. For comments or reactions, email firingline@ymail.com or tweet @Side_View via X app (formerly Twitter). Read current and past issues of this column at https://www.thephilbiznews.com

As most Filipinos go about their Catholic traditions this Lenten Season, anchored on reflection and repentance, I believe many sinners are converted. Today, Maundy Thursday, the reflection is on how Jesus washes the feet of the apostles — an act of humility and an invitation to servant leadership.

For Filipinos, it is also the day devoted to sacrifice, expressed in many ways, among them the Visita Iglesia, which is moving from one church to another, some on foot, offering prayers along the way.

It is in this light that Firing Line reflects on the plight of prisoners, who society loosely (and perhaps ignorantly) tags as the worst of sinners. They are called criminals. But if we were to see them through the same lens as the Lord, then Christ died for them, too. Shouldn’t they be visited? Aren’t they, in their own way, a treasure of souls for conversion? They deserve genuine reform and care, not just punishment.

To be fair, there is a real and measurable movement inside the country’s most troubled prison system.

This past month, the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) transferred 500 persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) from the New Bilibid Prison to the Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm in Palawan, a facility that now boasts a newly built dormitory capable of housing up to 1,000 inmates.

Also, the BuCor announced it is releasing 1,239 prisoners, among them 501 who had completed their sentences and 396 under expiring terms approved through the Department of Justice (DOJ) processes.

With congestion rates hovering near 290 percent, every transfer and every release matters not just in space saved, but in lives potentially improved. Overcrowding magnifies disease, weakens already fragile health conditions, and erodes any semblance of order. Medical experts have long warned of rising hypertension, respiratory infections, and even strokes among aging inmates in such conditions.

Against this backdrop, Director General Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. deserves credit. His push goes beyond decongestion. Education programs have expanded. Feeding and livelihood initiatives — many with private sector partners — have taken root, and faith-based forms of moral recovery efforts have gained ground.

Much of this has been enabled by a stricter “no gang” policy within the Maximum Security Compound — a long-standing fault line in Bilibid’s troubled history.

But BuCor must try harder, as this is only implemented on the surface. Beneath encouraging statistics and the structure lies a system that refuses to fully yield; a system still lorded over by the gangs.

Firing Line spies inside the Bilibid point to the continued presence of gangs within Maximum Security. The removal of tattoos, once presented as proof of disassociation, has become, to some, little more than theater. Communication lines remain active across facilities, with inmates still checking in with so-called elders and supreme leaders — an arrangement that strongly suggests the continued use of contraband cellphones.

And while we move inmates out, what are we doing about what remains within?

Kumusta ang tubig diyan sa Bilibid? I heard water supply has to be brought in by firetrucks – not necessarily potable all the time, is it?

I heard the chronic water shortage is so severe that some inmates allegedly resort to flushing toilets with their own urine. And water supplies have to be paid for. Decongestion eases the numbers, yes, but it does not automatically restore dignity.

Catapang’s reforms are real. They deserve acknowledgment.

But reform, if it is to mean anything, must reach deeper and well into the pipes, the cells, and the shadow systems that still govern life behind bars. Until then, Bilibid is not just overcrowded. It is, like many of the DPWH, an unfinished government project.

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SHORT BURSTS. For comments or reactions, email firingline@ymail.com or tweet @Side_View via X app (formerly Twitter). Read current and past issues of this column at https://www.thephilbiznews.com