Betrayals Of Public Trust

Last February 5, 2025, 215 Congressmen of the House of Representatives filed/sent to the Senate an Impeachment Complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte for culpable violation of the Constitution, betrayal of public trust, mysterious spending of P125.5 million of the people’s tax money — budgeted confidential funds under her OVP and her Office as concurrent secretary of the DepED, bribery, and other high crimes.

Under Article 11 of the Philippine Constitution, Section 3, (4), the Senate is mandated “forthwith” (that is, last February 5) “to proceed” setting itself up as an Impeachment Court, with themselves as Senator-Judges, to put on trial VP Sara Duterte, for her “high crimes.” BUT, only by June 10 (more than 4 months) that the senators, under the leadership of Senate President Chiz Escudero, formed themselves as an Impeachment Court.

However, with the resolution by senators Bato de la Rosa and Francis Tolentino to stop the trial, an amendment to the resolution was made by senator-judge Alan Cayetano remanding the Impeachment Complaint to the House of Representatives. This move, deemed unconstitutional by legal luminaries, was practically to delay the proceedings, and probably or actually to stop the trial itself.

IT’S ACCOUNTABILITY!

Netizens and other justice influencers and activist organizations have been clamoring with protest actions in the streets to “litisin si Sara Duterte ngayon na!” for the past weeks. These protesters’ call for the Senate to act on the Articles of Impeachment soonest is quite understandable, given their expectation that “public office is a position of public trust.”

As citizens they are actually paying the salaries of all government officials, precisely “to build a just and humane society” – that is, to hold accountable erring public officials, to give justice to everyone, and work in pursuit of good governance.

And the senators’ forming themselves into an Impeachment Court is clearly their constitutional judicial function, a duty to carry out posthaste. The people are thinking, quite seriously and dutifully, “Aren’t these actions by the Senators a betrayal of public trust?”

Unfortunately for the country, especially for the more than 60 million poor and marginalized Filipinos, the past administration of the former president, now in the International Criminal Court detention cell waiting for his trial for “crimes against humanity” (for causing the extra-judicial killings (EJKs) and red-tagged killings of more than 30,000 Filipinos, children included), have not solved the drug problem, among many other problems, like that of the economy, the poor quality of the education and health systems of the country, and China’s encroachment into our sovereign territories, particularly in the WPS.

OFFICIAL MANDATE

Sadly too, the current administration of the “Uniteam” is also neglecting its official mandate to serve the people. Instead, now they’re apparently focused on remaining in power at the top of the government bureaucracy.

The people are still waiting when they can buy the P20/kg of rice and affordable vegetables, meat, fruits, and other basic necessities of life.

QUESTIONS

When will the NTF-ELCAC stop its red tagging of activists, and stop the military’s illegal arrests, enforced disappearances, and killings?

When will the more than 750 political prisoners still languishing in jail enjoy justice?

When will the current leadership finally put a stop to the aggressive attacks of China’s coast guards in the WPS against the fishermen and maritime scientists who are just doing their jobs for the country?

When will the current leadership really do its job of governance with integrity and real effectiveness, and prove convincingly that it is not betraying the people’s trust?