SECOND OPINION by Arvin Ferdinand M. Cabalu
THE entire nation is again glued to the political drama at the Senate as the impeachment of Vice President Inday Sara Duterte is well underway.
This is the fifth impeachment proceeding that had reached the halls of the Senate and the first for the sitting vice president. The four that preceded this one were the House of Representatives impeachment of then Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos in 2007, then Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez in 2011, then Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona also in 2011 and then President Erap Estrada in 2000.
Abalos and Gutierrez resigned before a Senate trial could commence while the trial of Estrada was famously aborted, sparking the 2001 EDSA II revolution. Only the trial of Corona reached a verdict of 21 guilty votes as against 3 acquittals.
Sara became the first official to be impeached twice… She was first impeached in 2025 but avoided a Senate trial following a Supreme Court ruling. She was impeached the second time in May 2026 for alleged misuse of hundreds of millions of confidential funds, unexplained wealth worth billions, bribery and making death threats against President BongBong, First Lady Liza and then House Speaker Martin.
Sara seems to take her impeachment trial lightly… she never attended any of the House Committee on Justice inquiries, never attended any of the pre-trial conferences at the Senate and it seems that she will also snub the on-going Senate trial.
Instead, she went on social and mainstream media for her announcements and rhetoric. She said that her trial would be a bloodbath, that she can defend herself, that her utterances were misconstrued and were taken out of context, that she never threatened anyone, that she never pocketed government money, that her videos were spliced, and many more.
But Sara has seen the writing on the wall already and the fact that she and her team tried and still trying hard to convince the Supreme Court to dismiss her Senate trial is a testament that she is much afraid that she might be convicted by the Senate and be also convicted before the bar of public opinion.
The vice president hired a battery of lawyers… lawyers that will defend her to the hilt and obviously too, VP Sara also hired a battery of PR men that are currently repackaging her image – from a tough guy to a simple and pleasant public servant.
They have felt (and survey shows) that she is losing her once insurmountable preference, trust and net satisfaction rating survey results… she, during and for sure, after the Senate trial will see her survey numbers plummet to the ground.
The obvious thing is that she is afraid of this Senate trial as she will now be very vulnerable to every scrutiny. Her bank accounts can now be summoned, her transactions can now be questioned, her past utterances can now be examined, and her family’s long years of portrayal of having a simple and plain style of living is on the edge.
Sara might be acquitted owing to the fact that a conviction needs 16 votes and at present, there are only 13 that seem to lean away from her. But the truth of the matter is, acquitted or not, her persona is already damaged.
I hope that the entire nation will follow Sara’s trial and be judges themselves… anyway, it is the economy and political stability of the Philippines at stake here.
