Church people join impeachment bid against Philippine vice president

Dec 04, 2024

MANILA: Church people in the Philippines have joined the impeachment move against Vice-President Sara Duterte over a death threat she made against the president and her alleged role in extra-judicial killings, and corruption.

The Dec. 2 impeachment motion, filed by prominent civil society groups in the House of Representatives, accuses the 46-year-old daughter of former firebrand president, Rodrigo Duterte, of violating the 1987 constitution, betraying public trust, and threatening to have President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., his wife and the House speaker killed.

“Today, I formally endorse the first-ever impeachment motion filed by our citizens,” said lawmaker Perci Cendaña from the Akbayan party that supports the resolution in a statement on Dec. 2.

"Our complaint is a clarion call to dismantle the culture of violence, corruption and impunity which are the hallmark of the vice president,” said Catholic priest Father Flaviano Villanueva, a party to the 33-page complaint, filed by 16 individuals that include notable Catholic figures Father Robert Reyes and Sisters Susan Santos Esmile and Mary Grace de Guzman.

“This is not a political process; it is a collective stand to defend the truth, restore dignity and integrity in public service,” said human rights lawyer Chel Diokno.

The House should take action “to uphold truth, justice, and accountability," Villanueva said.

The effort is to “hold Sara Duterte accountable,” added Cendaña.

The complainants in the impeachment, including former military officers, also accused Duterte of refusing to condemn Chinese aggression in the South China Sea and giving the nod to continuing the brutal drug crackdown started during her father’s rule that left thousands of people dead in the Catholic-majority nation.

“The bloody war on drugs claimed tens of thousands of lives, leaving behind a trail of grieving families,” Cendaña said.

Sara Duterte has been accused of about two dozen alleged crimes. She is also accused of having a role in the alleged misuse of 612.5 million pesos (US$10.3 million) from confidential and intelligence funds.

The office of the vice president has not issued a statement on the impeachment bid.

Her feud with the president came to the fore on Nov. 23 when she said during an online interview that she had contracted an assassin to kill Marcos, his wife and speaker Martin Romualdez in the event that she is killed.

She later said she was not threatening Marcos Jr. but was expressing concern “for her own safety.”

The impeachment motion will be scrutinized by the Congress, which is dominated by Marcos' allies, and the lengthy process may take weeks or even months.

On Dec. 20, Congress will start its Christmas recess and will reconvene on Jan. 13 next year.

Activist and lawyer Argee Guevarra said a new vice president will be selected if Duterte is impeached by the House.

“The Dutertes will be erased from Philippine politics,” Guevarra told UCA News.

Marcos Jr. and Duterte won landslide victories in the 2022 election. The two offices are elected separately in the Southeast Asian nation, which often results in rivals assuming top political slots.

A Catholic religious leader, who spoke to UCA News on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media by his superiors, expressed concern over the “growing tension” between Marcos Jr. and the vice president.

“The Filipinos deserve leaders who prioritize service not power struggles,” he told UCA News on Dec. 2.

Our leaders must rise above personal conflicts, he added.

Former president Joseph Estrada was the first high-profile leader to be impeached in 2000 on charges of bribery, corruption, and betrayal of public trust, followed by ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez and the late chief justice Renato Corona in 2011.--ucanews.com