Multi-media giant and “alternative mainstream” network NET25 has added Nelson M. Lubao, anchor of the dawn news program Siyento Por Siyento, as its newest voice this month with an opinion piece published on the NET25.com portal on October 8, 2026.
The powerhouse network has yet to confirm if Lubao will remain a regular columnist, busy as he is with his daily radio broadcasting duties. His 5am show on Radyo Agila DZEC 1062 AM, also simulcast over the network’s portal and on YouTube, is a valuable resource of news and information for news audiences in Metro Manila and the provinces alike.
With Lubao’s Filipino column, he communicates in the same language he uses in his broadcasts, ensuring wide reach with the reading and listening public.
The NET25 portal’s Voices & Columns section shows how quickly the roster has grown. Bylined columns first appeared on the portal in June 2026, and in four months the section has gathered ten named columnists, on top of its regular Editorial.
Lubao’s debut, “BAWAL NA BANG SUMIGAW NG MAGNANAKAW?”, asks why the first official government reaction to an exposé is to go after the messenger rather than look for the missing money.
He cites, for instance, the vice mayor of Reina Mercedes, Isabela, who raised his voice in a council session over an alleged Php 5 million misuse of tobacco excise funds meant for farmers and found himself answering a suggestion that he take a drug test.
Lubao follows a path that other NET25 broadcasters have taken from the microphone to the column. Rikki Mathay, co-host of Ano Sa Palagay N’yo? and anchor of Mata ng Agila International, writes almost weekly in English, and Laila Tumanan of Usapang Pagbabago writes in Filipino.
Network president Caesar R. Vallejos, host of the award-winning “Open for Business”, is the most prolific of all and writes in both languages.
The roster now reads in two languages. Weng Dela Fuente, Cesar Batingal, Tumanan and Lubao write in Filipino; Mathay, Alma Angeles and Everett Quebral write in English; Vallejos, Wilma Galvante and Misael Dungca III move between the two, with Dungca often in Taglish.
The past two weeks alone show the roster’s range. Mathay asked whether AI could end humanity by 2030 and whether a plague scare should be called “just the flu”, also adding a piece on the flydubai attack.
Vallejos wrote on the MV June Aster fire off Coron in “Kaya bang tawaran ang buhay?”, and the NET25 Editorial took up the Php 11.5 billion shabu shipment and asked whose parcel it was.
The network makes a conscious effort to grow its opinion page from its own newsroom rather than from outside pundits. The people who read the news at dawn, interview newsmakers at mid-morning and anchor the late news are the same people who write the columns. This makes for consistent and relatable news dissemination to an audience already familiar with the network’s news personalities.
Readers who know their voices on air can test their arguments on the page. This is the “fiscalizer” voice that NET25’s columnists have asserted since the section began, now spoken by one more trusted voice from radio.
All the columns are free to read anytime, anywhere on the NET25.com portal, and most of the columnists can be heard daily on Radyo Agila DZEC 1062 AM and seen on Digital Free TV Channel 28 and Analog Free TV Channel 25 as well.
No other news network in the country has built an opinion roster this quickly from its own anchors and hosts. The “alternative mainstream” network is showing that it is conscious about giving its audience not only the news but the voices to make sense of it, from the first newscast at dawn to the news feed of the evening.
