December 16, 2024 — What’s the game our top political leaders are playing on us?
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. confirmed on Friday that he had sent a “private communication” to members of the House of Representatives to “not file impeachment complaints” against Vice President Sara Duterte.
Earlier in the day, the vice president didn’t show up at the National Bureau of Investigation which subpoenaed her for her public disclosure that she has hired a killer to assassinate the president, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and House Speaker Martin Romualdez if she were killed.
The concerned government agencies’ quick moves to investigate was prompted by Malacañang’s worried reaction. Marcos found it “alarming” and said, “Yang ganyang kriminal na pagtatangka ay hindi dapat pinapalampas.‘Yan ay aking papalagan.”
(That kind of criminal threat should not be ignored. I will fight it.)
His Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin labeled it “an active threat.”
Impeachment gains momentum
The efforts to file an impeachment complaint against Duterte has been gaining momentum as hearings of the House quad committee (probing the interlocking issues against illegal drugs, online gaming operations, human rights violations and extra judicial killings) and the Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability expose he rwarped thinking and blatant disregard of the law in the handling of government funds.
She had a meltdown when her Chief of Staff Zuleika Lopez was cited in contempt and detained at the House detention center for refusing to answer truthfully questions by lawmakers on the letter she sent to the Commission on Audit, telling the agency to not give the committees documents they were requesting. Antipolo Rep. Romeo Acop was being kind when he described Duterte’s actions as “a character flaw.”
It was in that after-midnight Zoom conference with some media men and pro-Duterte vloggers that the vice president made the infamous assassination threat: “May kinausap na ako na tao, sinabi ko sa kanya, kapag piñata ako patayin mo si BB, si Liza Araneta at si Martin Romualdez. No joke. No joke. Nagbilin na ako, ma’am,‘pagnamatay ako, sabi ko, ‘wag ka tumigil, ha, hanggang hindi mo na patay sila. And then he said ‘yes’.“
A Facebook post pointed out the senselessness of that threat:” Kung ako yung assassin nakausap ni Sara, gagawin ko pa ba ang pinapagawa n’ya kung patay na siya? Una,sino ang magbabayad sa akin kung patay nasiya? At kung patay na siya pero bayad nama nako, bakit ko pa gagawin ang pinapatrabaho niya?”
(If I were the assassin that Sara hired, would I still do what she had asked me to do if she were already dead? Who would pay me since she was already dead? And if she was already dead but I had been paid, why would I still do what she had asked me to do?)
Scary
It was actually scary when you realize that the person acting unhinged is a breath away from the presidency.
The Constitution states that, “In case of death, permanent disability, removal from office, or resignation of the President, the Vice-President shall become the President to serve the unexpired term.”
The nasty prospect of having an unstable personality ruling the country overshadows whether one likes or dislikes President Marcos.
Marcos’ “halt impeachment”message
The president’s admission that he texted members of Congress to refrain from filing an impeachment complaint against Duterte dishonours the principle of the separation of powers amongthe three branches of government: executive, legislative and judiciary.
Marcos, however, is not alone in this as the public has witnessed the same efforts by past presidents to control Congress.
Many, however, were confused by Marcos changing tune in a span of four days. From a hardline tone of“Yang ganyang krimimal napagtatangka ay hindi dapat pinapalampas” he went soft to “What will happen if somebody files an impeachment? It will tie down the House, it will tie down the Senate. It will just take up all our time and for what? For nothing, for nothing. None of this will help improve a single Filipino life.”
What happened? What’s going on?
My guess is, Marcos is not sure if he has the numbers in the Senate to convict Duterte in an impeachment trial.
He can count on his cousin, Romualdez, to deliver the impeachment charge but it is the Senate as an impeachment court that will try Duterte, who can block a conviction with eight votes.
Malacañang cannot afford to lose because impeachment rules allow only one impeachment proceedings against the same official within one year.
The May 2025 midterm elections present Marcos an opportunity to improve the composition of the Senate in his favor against the Dutertes.
Expect the political battle to be more intense after next year’s elections.
Ellen Tordesillas is trustee and writer of VERA Files (verafiles.org), a group that undertakes in-depth reporting on current issues and does Fact-checking to fight disinformation. She writes opinion columns which appear in Malaya Business Insight, ABS-CBN online and VERA Files. As a reporter, she has covered education and health and science, the PCGG and foreign affairs beat before she was assigned to cover politics. She has covered all Philippine elections since the 1986 snap elections that triggered the ouster of Ferdinand Marcos. She continues to watch closely anything relevant to the Filipino people.
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