The next chapter: The impeachment of Inday Sara

It never came as a surprise. We saw it coming. The political enemies of Vice President Inday Sara Duterte stuck to the plan. 

The impeachment of the Vice President is the next chapter after the quad committee hearings and good government committee hearings of the House of Representatives.

As I said on numerous occasions, this is part of the evil scheme to destroy the Dutertes as part of the Marcos-Araneta-Romualdez family to stay in power indefinitely.

The Dutertes have to be stopped at all costs. Look at the most recent survey of Pulse Asia, conducted last Sept. 6 – 13, 2024, showing VP Duterte as the most trusted top government official in the Philippines. Languishing at the bottom are President Marcos at 50 percent and House Speaker Romualdez at 31 percent. 

While it is true that President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. discouraged members of Congress from pursuing impeachment against VP Sara, his words were empty rhetoric. PBBM has gained the notoriety of being a Budol Budol Man (BBM). It is no wonder that his pronouncement was met by hundreds of laugh emojis by netizens. People are not gullible to allow themselves to be scammed the second time around. 

Last Monday, Dec. 2, 2024, Akbayan Partylist Representative Perci Cendaña endorsed the 33-page impeachment complaint filed at the House of Representatives. 

Malacañang distanced itself from the first impeachment complaint, saying this was an independent initiative of several private citizens and its endorsement is the prerogative of any member of the House of Representatives.  

Let us check those private citizens and one can sense a feeling of déjà vu. They are a familiar cast of yellow characters: former presidential adviser on the peace process Teresita Deles; Catholic priests Flaviano Villanueva and Robert Reyes; nuns Susan Santos Esmile and Mary Grace de Guzman; President Cory grandson Francis Joseph Aquino Dee; Magdalo members Gary Alejano, Maria Yvonne Cristina Jereza and Eugene Louie Gonzalez; Alice Murphy of the Urban Poor Associates; Sylvia Estrada Claudio, former dean of the University of the Philippines’ College of Social Work and Community Development and singer Leah Navarro.

Isn’t this clear enough that the Dilawans have been cavorting with their erstwhile enemies, the Marcoses, in their common objective to pulverize the Dutertes in the political landscape? 

Last Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, a 45-page second impeachment complaint signed by 75 representatives from various sectoral groups was filed with lawmakers from the Makabayan bloc, namely, ACT Teachers Party-list Representatives France Castro, Gabriela Women’s Party-list Arlene Brosas, and Kabataan Party-list Raoul Manuel.

Once again, left-wing activists endorsed the complaint. Can we see a pattern here? Rabid communists have been deployed by the PBBM administration as their attack dogs against the Dutertes. 

As of this writing, a third impeachment complaint looms. 

The Office of the House Secretary General targets to transmit all impeachment complaints to the Office of House Speaker Martin Romualdez next week, so these can be included in the House plenary’s Order of Business.

For the information of our readers, this would be the flow: the House of Representatives must include the impeachment complaint/s in the Order of Business within 10 session days of its receipt. This will then be referred within three days to the House committee on justice, which will then evaluate the complaint’s sufficiency in form and in substance before proceeding to the plenary for voting.

However, they can short cut the process. I understand that the Makabayan bloc is presently gathering House signatures, just one-third of the over 300 district and party-list representatives, to sign the impeachment resolution against the Vice President.

As a lawyer, I drafted three impeachment complaints but reading the two impeachment complaints against VP Sara is simply an LOL moment. A cursory look at these impeachment complaints shows a lack of substance behind their allegations. How can VP’s rant, for instance, be a high crime and her tantrum be an impeachable offense? How can keeping her mouth shut be a ground for impeachment? This was when VP Sara refused to answer some questions on the budget of her office.

VP Sara has not done any impeachable offense. The Commission on Audit (COA) recently gave its unmodified/unqualified opinion on its report regarding the Office of the Vice Presidents (OVP) financial transactions.

An unqualified opinion means COA is satisfied with the OVP’s financial standing reporting. It means OVP has complied with governance principles and applicable laws.

This is indeed a no-brainer. I solidly stand behind the Vice President of the Philippines.

The latest impeachment move, I have to underscore, distracts us from addressing the most urgent and the most pressing issues of the day, such as all-time hunger, rising criminality, spiraling prices of basic commodities. It likewise diverts from the burning questions of the day, which is, the physical and mental fitness of the President to lead the country with the never-ending allegations of drug abuse. 

Amid the loud political noise came the strategic move of the influential religious group Iglesia ni Cristo (INC). We welcome the good news that the INC will organize peace rallies to express its vehement disapproval on the planned impeachment move against the Vice President in support of PBMMs call for House lawmakers not to move for the impeachment of Inday Sara.  

INC’s move to oppose the impeachment of the Vice President conveys a powerful message that it is not indifferent to the seething anger of the Filipino masses crying for decisive action and genuine public service amidst a current leadership vacuum in the halls of Malacañang. INC has correctly read the public pulse and simply assumed the role of the genuine conscience of the Filipino people. Thank you, INC, as we await for further developments. 

We deserve better. Our country deserves better.