Three impeachment complaints against Vice President Sara Duterte are pending in the House of Representatives, filed respectively by members of civic organizations, activist groups, and a coalition of priests and lawyers. A fourth complaint is reported to be in the works. 

The first two complaints were filed with the expectation that action would be taken before the chamber adjourned session for its holiday break; the third was filed a day after adjournment. No action took place even if, as the human rights lawyer and ex-lawmaker Neri Colmenares pointed out to CoverStory.ph early in December, things could proceed quickly if the House put its mind to it because it has the evidence in its possession. 

But there was no action from the House, perhaps because President Marcos Jr.’s blow-hot-blow-cold public stance vis-a-vis Duterte was not providing an unequivocal signal to those who move only on his say-so. And the Iglesia ni Cristo—which, as everyone is aware, votes as a bloc—had let it be known that, in support of Mr. Marcos’ announced position, it did not approve of Duterte’s impeachment.

Thus this burdensome feeling of being put on hold. The three complaints—endorsed respectively by the Akbayan party-list, the Makabayan bloc, and Camarines Sur Rep. Gabriel Bordado and Aambis-Owa Party-list Rep. Lex Colada—constitute unfinished business. They stick in the craw. 

Surely you feel aggravated by this interregnum, compounded by Christmas being all but stifled by the wet blanket of inflation (how difficult for the hungry to remember the reason for the season). Now, after the frenetic merrymaking deemed obligatory to welcoming the new year—the pagkain (now incredibly expensive even for those who normally didn’t check price tags while grocery shopping), the pampaswerte (now more desperately acquired than usual), the paputok (truly fierce these days, as though risking one’s life in lighting a boga guaranteed future prosperity)—it’s time Congress got cracking. 

Numbers game

Impeachment is a constitutional mechanism through which high government officials are held accountable for grave offenses. In the numbers game that animates the majority made up of dynasts and sundry wheeler-dealers in the House, will a possibly consolidated complaint be found sufficient in form and substance and find its way to the Senate for trial? (Students of contemporary history will recall that in 2010, then Speaker Manuel Villar managed to transmit to the Senate the verified impeachment complaint against then President Joseph Estrada in the course of reciting the prayer opening the House session. Duterte’s father, Rodrigo Duterte, was representing Davao City then, the presidency still but a gleam in his eye.)  And will the Senate, where also cavorts a motley crew that includes, among others, ex-movie stars, ex-president Rodrigo Duterte’s man Friday and former police chief, and assorted types related to one another and unashamed of their crowded presence, be up to the task?

It’s said that extended work on this year’s national budget of P6.326 trillion also took up the time that the House could have devoted to the impeachment complaints. The 2025 General Appropriations Act, signed by the President last Dec. 30 after deliberations and line-item vetoes amounting to P194 billion remains controversial: more pro-politician than pro-people, in the correct description of economics professor Cielo Magno who was a finance undersecretary up until the time she was deemed too candid for comfort. Appearing to have been geared to the doles anticipated to mark the midterm elections, with zero subsidy to PhilHealth and an alarming reduction in the funding for education, among others, the budget is said to be ripe for questioning at the Supreme Court—an important issue requiring the attention of Filipinos.

Public outrage

It’s equally important for everyone, including those who voted to put Sara Duterte in place as a spare for the presidency, to understand the essence of the impeachment complaints: not, as she insists, a result of politicking (“pamumulitika” is one of her favorite terms to cover seemingly anything that tends to question her actions), but a manifestation of public outrage at the apparent misuse of P612 million in confidential funds, her obstinate refusal to explain the expenditures in formal proceedings, and the Office of the Vice President’s cavalier, indeed cynical, submission of acknowledgment receipts bearing the names of supposed fund beneficiaries nonexistent in public records. Of the receipts’ contents Duterte has amazingly disclaimed knowledge. Even Zuleika Lopez, Duterte’s chief of staff and big cheese in her team since she, in the family merry-go-round, ruled Davao City, did not see fit to put her lawyerly foot down at “Mary Grace Piattos.” 

Sara Duterte hosted a lunch in December for the media; it was her declared reason for not heeding the National Bureau of Investigation’s second invitation to her to attend an inquiry into her earlier announcement—delivered with high rage and a startling profanity—that she had arranged for a hit on the First Couple and Speaker Martin Romualdez in the event that an alleged threat to her life succeeds. (In spurning the NBI’s first invitation, she said she needed to show up for her staff summoned to the inquiry of the House blue ribbon committee into the confidential funds spent by the OVP and the Department of Education when she was still its chief.)

Television footage of the lunch showed Duterte reiterating verbally what she by her physical behavior had long stated: that she will not explain the disbursements of the confidential funds allocated to the OVP and the DepEd. Incredibly, she cited the adage “respect begets respect” in the course of conveying that the actions directed at her had not been respectful of her office and are therefore unworthy of her own respect. Observers attentive to the indecorous, indeed disrespectful, manner by which she has comported herself as the second highest official of the land, reported by news agencies worldwide, were doubtless flabbergasted.

What now?

So much on the national plate, so many issues to be resolved—all on pause mode. 

What to expect from the House blue ribbon committee chaired by Manila Rep. Joel Chua in terms of other significant matters disclosed during its inquiry, such as the OVP disbursing officers’ alleged turnover of confidential funds to certain military men?

What next from Sen. Risa Hontiveros’ pioneering investigation of the grievous impact on the Philippines and its people of illegal offshore gaming hubs? 

What to expect from the announced finding of the House quad committee led by Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers—after 13 hearings of an inquiry into the connections among the extrajudicial killings in the past administration’s “war on drugs,” the trade in illegal drugs, and the operations of illegal offshore gambling hubs—of a “grand criminal enterprise” supposedly centering on Rodrigo Duterte? 

The widows and orphans continue to bear the brunt of the “war” that has resulted in thousands killed. Their stories have yet to be fully told, and solace remains beyond their grasp. 

In a report by Krixia Subingsubing on Rodrigo Duterte’s appearance in a House hearing last November at which bereaved family members were also present, Maryann Domingo spoke of her feelings while the ex-president claimed full responsibility for the killings.

The man sat “in front of us and he made all those admissions repeatedly but he showed no remorse at all,” Maryann, whose partner Luis and son Gabriel were killed in 2016 by Kalookan cops, told the Inquirer reporter.

“I asked myself, is this what justice looks like?” she said. “It seemed he was freely admitting his crimes because he was confident nothing would ever happen to him. This was supposed to be a moment of vindication for us … but when I was finally face to face with him, I felt like I was the one who lost.”