Trial of the decade

Perhaps the greatest tragedy is for Filipinos to witness justice left astray. 

More than a year ago, after the House of Representatives first impeached the second-highest official of the Philippines, Vice President Sara Zimmerman Duterte was struck once more by an impeachment case. As the trial looms today in the Senate, Filipinos call for a triumph of accountability in the midst of a government run by impunity.

Amidst the proceedings of the 10th day of trial, July 29, 2026, Prosecution witnesses Violeta Constantino and Nenita Camposano describing the specific cash withdrawals by the OVP and DepEd under Duterte’s leadership as “unusual” sparked controversy.

Despite the circumstance, even a pinch of an anomaly in regards to public funds must be a prompt to greater transparency, regardless if Senator-Judge Alan Peter Cayetano responds by asserting that an oddity does not pertain to illegality.

Since the opening of this trial, Duterte has remained absent throughout all proceedings of the impeachment court, choosing only to appear through her counsel. 

The bare indifference of Duterte, rooted in the lack of appearance in the recent House Committee hearings, speaks loud for her frail commitment to demonstrate her innocence to the people. It would seem that the 31.5 million votes for her candidacy during the 2022 elections had just gone to waste, as the reputation of Philippine politics is stained by her indifference to be held accountable.

As an investigative body contributing to the process of impeachment, the prosecutors’ panel from the House has four (4) articles of impeachment against the respondent, containing the arduous allegations against the Vice President:

The alleged misuse of P612.5 million in confidential funds from the Office of the Vice President, unexplained wealth and failure to truthfully disclose assets in Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALNs), bribery and procurement irregularities involving DepEd officials, and assassination threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez. 

No Vice President is allowed to misuse budgets we pay with our taxes.

No Vice President is permitted to violently act by threatening a bloodbath.

No Vice President should ever have vices of brutality.

Undeniably, such an act of unprofessionalism, betrayal of public trust, and incompetence is the true bloodshed for our nation. It would be abnormal to even consider her a role model to the people. Thus, it is the catalyst that will lead to a total loss of trust for Sara Duterte, and political decay will be recorded in our history.

Meanwhile, the political landscape in the Senate, acting as the Impeachment Court, is challenged by compliance with their political affiliations.

During an ironic pilot, the senator-judges’ arguments over who the Presiding Officer of the impeachment court should be, inevitably delayed the crucial processes to follow on the first day of trial, i.e., the opening frame of both prosecutors’ and defense counsel. 

As the impeachment progresses, the shallow performance of the supposed senator-judges we ought to look up to, drowns our hopes to seek justice. 

Nuisances like the irrelevant inquiries of Senator-Judge Robin Padilla due to his lack of legal background depletes his competence despite his confidence. Including the redundant commentary of the Cayetano siblings as if they are an acting defense, compounds the mistrust of the public of their capacity to execute a decisive outcome from the trial. Simply all the noise to defer the call for accountability. 

Even the attempt from the minority to include Senators Rodante Marcoleta and Jinggoy Estrada, arrested due to plunder cases, and Bato Dela Rosa, under hiding, to be in the trial, only disrupts the fluency of required procedures. 

Despite their legal conflicts, we cannot deny that they are mere shadows of the effort to jeopardize the outcome of conviction. Hence, the invalidity of the concern for them to attend in the court prevails.

As we know, the faction of Duterte allies in the minority led by Cayetano, likely to do all means to acquit, is ubiquitous. If not, then they must redeem themselves liable to their duty as senator-judges by preserving the benefit of the nation beyond political colors.

Under Article XI, Section 3 of the 1987 Constitution, conviction of an impeached official requires the vote of two-thirds of all members of the Senate. With all 24 senator-judges voting to convict, a total of 16 votes will determine the conviction of Duterte. Once convicted, Duterte faces removal from office and perpetual disqualification from holding any public office. 

For the sake of survival, any less than 16 votes lead to an acquittal and the authority for her to remain in position.

These votes do not only represent the judgment of the senator-judges. Their decision to either convict or acquit the VP quintessentially embodies the capability of the institutions of the republic to stand for the weeping masses. Each Filipino robbed of a sustainable life in this country merely hopes for a miracle, while politicians in the government are granted the premium of an exemption from punishment.

How so, can this historical impeachment trial play out, given the political composition of the Senate? The formulas to the conclusion of this story are clear, and each daunting outcome is as follows:

First, the ecstatic conviction the people of our nation have long been yearning for. The crucial sixteen votes become more than a theory. Not only will the Vice President be removed from office, but her supposed presidential bid in 2028 shall be legally ceased. Here, the republic shall rejoice as it proves itself allergic to impotence to adhere to the betterment of the country. 

Second, the disheartening probability is acquittal. In this circumstance, we can only shake our heads out of despair, as the votes to continue to supply the lifeline of the Vice President are empowered by mere numbers enslaved by political loyalty. And when loyalty is coined by power, the common folk are left behind, poverty-stricken, by those allied to the upper hand.

Lastly, if not the most aggravating story we may witness, is the postponement of the trial procedures that eventually delays the effort of the republic’s institutions to expel the Vice President from public office out of a call to accountability. Each tactic to defer conviction is anticipated to come from Duterte’s allies in the count of senator-judges. An upsetting moment in our history that would prove that the sole public servants the Filipinos have chosen would woefully be the ones to stray away from their duty to serve the people. 

The Vice President’s defense, along with her defense counsel and allies, argue that the impeachment would be a platform of abuse and a political strategy that serves as a prevention to her presidential run in 2028, given her confidence primarily due to the dominance of supporting numbers nationwide.

Reality Check: Duterte is not a victim of a political witch hunt—she is the architect of her own ruin.

As opposed to her insight, the impeachment trial is a definite step towards attaining accountability for the hefty allegations against her. If she does not face the case, then it proves betrayal of public trust as she bends the will to serve. Without a trial, the Filipinos will inevitably be junked down the gutter as the heartbeat of democracy bleeds dry. 

The saddening reality is that the common Filipino deeply embedded in poverty or indifference would likely not comprehend the significance of an impeachment trial, or instead, be a victim of the systematic indoctrination that tells them worshipping politicians is normal in exchange for band-aid relief. 

It is unbenign that Duterte remains supported by political loyalists and civilians fooled into romanticizing her spoiled legacy when she has done horrendous acts that defeat the purpose of public service.

Which is why the trial must set an outcome that convicts whoever shall be found guilty of punishment in accordance with the Constitution. If the trial succumbs to the control of political maneuver, then we might as well expect doom to dominate the future of our nation.

“Salus populi suprema lex esto, the welfare of the masses shall be the supreme law.’’

The people’s power must conquer the power of the few. It is time that we realise that the grand finale of this story holds a generational stake of fate. Being awakened by the moiling struggles to simply live in the state of our nation should be the first symptom of the ache of debauchery in public service that has long been ingrained to the system.

Ultimately, we are witnessing the trial of the decade unfold before our eyes, the historical turning point in which we may finally grasp a moment of solace once accountability reigns above all means of corruption.