Don’t Act Like a King: Remulla Slaps Fernando’s Four-Lane Ego

Four Lanes, Zero Shame: The Bulacan Blueprint for VIP Entitlement

By Louis ‘Barok‘ C. Biraogo — February 25, 2026

MGA ka-kweba, my dear kabayan, gather ’round the kweba while I sharpen the scalpel. Another day, another “VIP convoy” turning a national expressway into a feudal procession, and suddenly the entire republic clutches its pearls. But this isn’t just some Saturday-night road rage on the NLEX. This is Exhibit A in the never-ending Philippine opera: Feudal Entitlement vs. The Fragile Rule of Law.

Bulacan Governor Daniel Fernando — former actor, self-styled “People’s Governor” — allegedly cruises with two vans and an SUV, hogging four lanes like it’s his personal red carpet. Ordinary motorists? Reduced to peasants in economy class, blinking helplessly as the royal motorcade blocks overtaking like a mobile Great Wall. DILG Secretary Jonvic Remulla drops the mic: “A governor should not act like a king.”

Bravo, Secretary. But let’s not pretend this is revolutionary. This is the same old song, just with better lighting and a fresh coat of “Marcos-era reform” paint.

**1″Four Lanes, One Throne: The NLEX King’s Royal Procession”**

The Core Rot: Power Optics on Asphalt

Strip away the “road rage” clickbait. This is a constitutional crisis in traffic form. Article III, Section 1 of the 1987 Constitution — Equal Protection — doesn’t have a footnote that says “unless you’re a governor with plate numbers and an entourage.” Public highways are res communes — belonging to everyone. When a provincial potentate treats NLEX like his hacienda, he doesn’t just violate Republic Act No. 4136 (the Land Transportation and Traffic Code); he spits on the social contract.

Section 54 of RA 4136 is crystal: No person shall drive his motor vehicle in such a manner as to obstruct or impede the passage of any vehicle. Four lanes occupied? That’s not a security protocol. That’s obstruction with malice. Add the alleged brandishing of firearms and you’ve got the full feudal package — coercion wrapped in government plates.

And before the apologists scream “security!”, spare me. Every governor faces threats. None of them gets to turn the North Luzon Expressway into a private driveway. Even the Supreme Court’s own drivers learned this the hard way in A.M. No. 22-06-08-SC (the 2024 Road Rage Incident) — the Court of Appeals justice’s convoy got slapped for the exact same arrogant lane-cutting and finger-pointing. If SC employees can’t play king, why should a Bulacan governor?

Eviscerating the “King of NLEX” Mentality

Fernando’s silence is deafening. While Remulla was doing his press-conference sermon, the governor has yet to utter a syllable. Classic. When caught with your convoy in four lanes and your escorts allegedly waving hardware, the playbook is: deny, ghost the media, wait for the story to die.

This isn’t security. This is decadent political class cosplay. The same class that screams “public service” while treating public space as their fiefdom.

“Wang-wang culture” didn’t die with Aquino’s inaugural address in 2010, where he vowed to end VIP entitlement on the roads — it just rebranded as “protective convoy protocols.” Fernando isn’t the first, and until someone grows a spine, he won’t be the last.

Look at that NLEX traffic. That’s you, kabayan — stuck behind tinted SUVs while the “public servant” breezes by. The people’s highway, my ass.

Remulla: Principled Enforcer or Palace Hitman in Barong?

Now let’s turn the scalpel on Jonvic Remulla. The man who suddenly discovers “many complaints” the moment a rumor whispers “presidential son.” Coincidence? In Philippine politics, nothing is.

Under the Local Government Code of 1991 (Republic Act No. 7160) and the Constitution, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG)’s power is supervision, not control — a distinction the Supreme Court hammered home in Drilon v. Lim (G.R. No. 112497, 1994). Remulla can chide, refer to the Land Transportation Office (LTO), even recommend sanctions. He cannot play judge, jury, and viral soundbite machine before evidence drops. Publicly labeling a sitting governor “acting like a king” while the LTO investigation is still in diapers? That’s not supervision. That’s trial by press conference.

Is this about traffic? Or is this a velvet-gloved warning to every Nacionalista Unity Party (NUP) governor and lukewarm Marcos ally: We hold the leash now. Fernando endorsed Robredo in 2022. Funny how the “many complaints” only became a national emergency when the alleged victim’s convoy supposedly carried royal blood.

Motivations: The Palace, the Governor, the Secretary

Fernando: Former oppositionist testing how far he can push under the new regime? Or just habitual “I’m the governor, bow down” muscle memory? Either way, the “King of NLEX” brand is now permanently tattooed on his forehead.
Remulla: Rule-of-law warrior or loyal capo sending a message to local warlords that Malacañang is watching? His brother is the Ombudsman. The Remulla clan doesn’t do subtlety. This smells like political recalibration disguised as road safety.
The Palace: Swift denial of the “presidential son” rumor was textbook damage control. They know the optics: another “royal road rage” story would resurrect every Marcos-era wang-wang ghost. Better to disown it fast and let Remulla do the dirty work.

The Presidential-Son Rumor: The Elephant That Was Never There

Social media lit up with “high-ranking Bulacan official” blocking a Marcos boy. Palace: “Fake news.” Fernando: denied it to Remulla. LTO still investigating. But the rumor did its job — it forced action. Which tells you everything about how this country works: ordinary motorists’ complaints gather dust until the powerful feel the inconvenience. That toxic perception alone is damning.

Legal Weapons: The Full Arsenal

This isn’t a traffic ticket. It’s a stress test of the system:

RA 4136 §54 — Obstruction pure and simple.
Republic Act No. 6713 (Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees) — “Justness and sincerity,” “commitment to public interest”? Blocking citizens and allegedly flashing guns is the opposite of public service. Conduct unbecoming, full stop.
Republic Act No. 3019 §3(e) (Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act) — Giving oneself unwarranted benefits (exclusive lane usage) through evident bad faith. Creative? Yes. But courts have stretched it further for less.
Equal Protection Clause — No one is above the law. Not even governors.
Drilon v. Lim — Remulla, read it again: supervise, don’t substitute.
SC Road Rage precedent — Even judicial convoys get sanctioned for arrogance.

Options, Impacts, and the Likely Burying

Fernando can: (1) stay silent and hope LTO “loses” the CCTV, (2) issue a non-apology “security concerns” statement, or (3) face administrative case before the Office of the President.

Remulla can: wait for LTO, issue a face-saving circular, or quietly let it fade.

Best case? Real policy change. Worst case? Another spectacle that dies in committee.

My Verdict as Barok: No Sacred Cows

Immediate demands:

LTO — release every frame of CCTV and toll footage TODAY. No “lost” evidence, no “technical difficulties.” The public paid for those cameras.
Full transparency — every hearing livestreamed.
If Fernando’s convoy is guilty — traffic fines, administrative suspension, public apology on every network, and a permanent ban on four-lane royal processions.
If Remulla overreached on flimsy evidence — he owes the governor and the public an accounting for undermining due process.

Equal treatment or bust. A governor in Bulacan gets the same ticket a kuya in a Toyota Vios would get.

Concrete recommendations:

DILG Circular: Strict convoy protocols on expressways — maximum two vehicles, no lane monopolization, mandatory bodycams for escorts.
Citizen complaint portal for VIP road abuse — with real-time tracking.
Congressional inquiry into the entire “wang-wang 2.0” ecosystem.

Supervision without control. Accountability without grandstanding. The law is not a suggestion for those with bodyguards and blue plates.

The cynical citizen in me expects this to fade into the noise. The hopeful one — the one still typing in the kweba at midnight — says enough is enough.

Release the footage. Enforce the law. Or stop pretending we’re a republic.

— Barok

(Still waiting for my own convoy of truth to overtake this nonsense.)