“IMPEACH VP SARA DUTERTE” has been the main call the past weeks by various protesting activist-organizations, NGOs, CSOs, social movements, party-list groups, and countless private citizens. Lately, becoming more visible and active in these mass mobilizations, also known as “street parliaments,” are Church bishops/clergy, seminarians, faith-based organizations and retired/active military/police officials. This goes to show that the moral or ethical dimension of politics in the country is being highlighted. And our current public officials must take heed of their consciences (if any), and of course, their official mandate as public officials holding positions of “public trust.”
President Bongbong Marcos publicly declared that impeaching VP Sara Duterte was to be put aside as there are more critical problems to be solved. But on February 5, 2025, Wednesday, 215 representatives of the people out of the 306 members of the House of Representatives signed the fourth impeachment complaint (with three other impeachment complaints filed earlier in December 2024) against the second highest official, VP Sarah Duterte, for violating the Constitution.
More specifically, she has been charged with committing bribery, graft and corruption, betrayal of public trust and her misuse of up to P612.5 million in confidential fund of her OVP office and the Department of Education from 2022 to 2023.
The number of official signatories, 215, is more than the 102, or one-third of the 306 members of the House of Representatives, required to approve the articles of impeachment. It was signed first by President Bongbong Marcos’ son, Rep. Sandro Marcos of Ilocos Norte.
The impeachment complaint stressed that the “Respondent Duterte’s conduct throughout her tenure clearly displays gross faithlessness against public trust and a tyrannical abuse of power that, taken together, showcases her gross unfitness to hold public office and her infidelity to the laws and the 1987 Constitution.”
It must be recalled (as Inquirer reported), based on the findings of the House committee on good government in its inquiry last year, that VP Sara Duterte’s net worth “quadrupled from 2007 to 2017 without a legitimate increase in income, and at least P2 billion in suspicious transactions linked to joint bank accounts shared with her father, ex-President Rodrigo Duterte.
She is also accused of being involved in extrajudicial killings during her time as mayor of Davao City, after Davao Death Squad hit man, Arturo Lascanas testified in a House hearing that she personally ordered assassinations under “Oplan Tokhang.”
VP Sara Duterte’s dismal performance should really make her think (if she is really sincere in saying, “God save the Philippines”) of resigning. That is, instead of wasting time and resources, again at the expense of the people’s money, in possibly a long-drawn out impeachment trial in June.
Money should be spent, more importantly, under PBBM (if he has the competence and heart to serve the people) by doing his job, especially to market P20kg of rice and affordable fish, meat, vegetables and fruits, to hold accountable the architects and implementers of the bloody “War on Drugs – Operation Tokhang,” and to finally stop the encroachment of China’s vessels into our sovereign territory.
Moreover, given the publicized criminal record of VP Sara Duterte as a public official, much like her father, ex-President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, PBBM must hold her accountable and punished, especially to uphold the country’s justice system.
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