“It won’t be long before the articles of impeachment will be elevated to the Senate”
HOW do you solve a problem like Vice President Sara Duterte, who has become the biggest critic of President Marcos Jr.? This is the big question.
Well, that question has been answered with the filing of two cases of impeachment by members of the civil society and the second one by the Makabayan group.
The first impeachment case was filed by members of the House of Representatives and civil society led by former Senator Leila de Lima for betrayal of public trust and direct involvement in extrajudicial killings during the six-year term of then President Rodrigo Duterte, misuse and abuse of millions in confidential and intelligence funds, culpable violation of the Constitution, and issuing threats against high-ranking officials, Santa Banana!
She was also accused of graft and corruption.
The President had initially objected to an impeachment case against the Vice President because that would distract the government from problems which had to be prioritized by the President. Following the impeachment case against Sara, the President continues to distance himself.
As I write this column, the Makabayan group still has to acquire at least 60 signatures from the House members since impeachment would need at least 1/3 of members of the House.
I know the impeachment case against Sara, both legal and political in nature, is mostly political. My gulay, as a lawyer myself, I believe an impeachment case against the Vice President appears to be stacked against her. And it won’t take long before the articles of impeachment will be elevated to the Senate.
For one thing, in the House Quad Committee probing the misuse and abuse of the confidential funds by the Office of the Vice president and as secretary of education, it would prove that indeed Sara misused her confidential funds in many ways.
Santa Banana, when it appeared that one “Mary Grace Piattos” had been involved in the misuse of Sara’s confidential funds, that name does not appear in the Statistical Office by birth, marriage or death.
In other words, she does not exist, my gulay! There are at least many more names that have to be found as recipients of confidential funds but their existence cannot be established.
Santa Banana, if only for this, the Vice President appears she really did misuse or even abuse her confidential funds, all of which constitute culpable violation of the Constitution and even betrayal of public trust and graft and corruption.
The VP threatened that if she is killed she had already commissioned somebody to assassinate the President, First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos and Speaker Martin Romualdez.
Santa Banana, that is a grave threat on the President that would constitute a threat against national security. And the National Bureau of Investigation , as I write this, has yet to investigate Sara. It is for these reasons why I believe the House impeachment against the VP is as good as done, my gulay!
If the VP gets impeached by the House, there’s also the Senate that will try her.
Again, as I said, impeachment cases are both legal and political, mostly political as in the impeachment cases of then President Erap Estrada and the then Chief Justice Renato Corona who by the vote of the majority of the Senate was impeached.
It would be interesting to find out how people would react to the impeachment of Sara.
I believe people would just accept it as something political. In the Senate, I can predict that Ronaldo “Bato” dela Rosa and Bong Go would be for Sara.
I cannot think of other senators who are for Sara. In any case, listening to the impeachment case of the Vice President by the House of Representatives and the Senate would certainly catch the attention of the people.
On the other hand, it would really distract the government from focusing on priority issues, which I believe should be attended to right away.
The most telling charge that would constitute graft and corruption is the misuse of the confidential funds amounting to P125 million in a space of only 11 days.
How can a public official like Sara spend that much in a space of a little over a week? Other names have also surfaced involved in the misuse of millions of confidential funds . And yet, Sara claims she cannot forgive her enemies, this being the Christmas Season, my gulay!
So, how do you solve a problem like Sara Duterte?
Considering that it takes only 1/3 of the House in a plenary session to impeach, I believe it won’t be long before the articles of impeachment will be elevated to the Senate.
