No matter how you look at it, Vice President Sara Duterte has a bleak political future as she faces and hurdles at least four impeachment complaints lodged against her at the House of Representatives.
If the impeachment complaints prosper and she is impeached by the House, the Senate, in accordance with the 1987 Constitution, will convene as an impeachment court to hold a trial. If proven guilty, the Vice President will be removed from her office. She will exercise no power and cannot replace President Marcos in case he dies in office or gets incapacitated. She will also face perpetual disqualification from holding any public office.
The prospect for the Vice President to get impeached by the House appears huge, because she has failed to explain adequately her side on allegations that she has misused the P612.5 million in confidential funds given to the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (Deped), while she was its concurrent secretary.
Her cocky attitude did not in any way endear her to the inquisitive lawmakers, who now appear to look at her with disdain because of the condescending treatment she gave them. From all indications, the required votes of at least a third of all House members will be met and lead to the elevation of the impeachment complaints to the Senate. The complaints submitted to the Senate would lead to a trial that would likely happen when the new Senate convenes after the May elections, or in July.
Key question: What if the new Senate acquits Sara after a trial?
Impeachment is essentially a political process. Senators, as judges in an impeachment court, hardly decide on the persuasive power of the evidence presented. They decide on the basis of their political orientation and alliance. Nevertheless, the political dynamics in the impeachment trial can arguably be expected to trigger surprises.
Given the declining quality of senators, it could be argued that the Vice President will not only be the one subjected to a trial. The Senate itself will undergo a sharp examination before the bar of public opinion. Senators will be scrutinized, too. The judgment the public renders on the Vice President will depend largely on how the senators behave and talk before the Senate as an impeachment court.
Duterte will be in a no-win situation. Assuming she gets acquitted, she will still be a loser. The close public examination will render her powerless, helpless, and defenseless in the ensuing dynamics after any acquittal. The impeachment trial will not in any way beef up her political capital. On the contrary, it will dissipate whatever is left of support for her from a political standpoint.
Her foolish refusal to explain the loss of the P612.5 million confidential funds will have telling effects in the long run. She will reap the whirlwind of what she had sowed earlier. Not even an acquittal would enable her any recovery in lost political stock. Most likely, she will be a spent force in the next presidential elections. She will pay dearly for her dismissive attitude.
Philip M. Lustre Jr.,
freelance journalist