Sara Duterte, Litisin at Panagutin!
- migrantecanada
- 9 hours ago
- 3 min read
Migrante Canada | May 24, 2026
Migrante Canada welcomes the House of Representatives’ impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte. This is the second impeachment case by the House against the Vice President over the misuse of public funds amounting to PhP 612.5 million, unexplained wealth, bribery, and threats against government officials. The House moved to impeach Duterte by a vote of 257-25, or 2/3 of the House members. If convicted, Sara Duterte will be permanently banned from holding office or running for the presidency in 2028. Impeaching Duterte is one step towards crushing impunity.
However, with the recent coup in the Senate – ousting of Tito Sotto and a deliberate installation of Alan Peter Cayetano as the Senate President which was made possible with Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa’s surprise appearance in the Senate – the impeachment case is yet again held hostage by the Duterte block. The political timing of the Senate’s performative “coup” on the very same day the House formally transmitted the Articles of Impeachment against Vice President Sara Duterte raises a legitimate and alarming concern. This is not a coincidence but a coordinated attempt to derail accountability.
Amid the worsening economic situation and oil crisis, the Filipino people are stretched to their limit. Prices of basic goods continue to rise while wages remain stagnant, and millions of Overseas Filipino Workers are forced to leave their homes and seek livelihood abroad, their remittances propping up an economy that corruption at the highest levels of government continues to erode.
It is these same workers - and the families they leave behind - whose hard-earned wages and remittances, paid back to the state in taxes and exactions, are the very funds that officials like Sara Duterte are accused of pocketing. This betrayal cannot go unanswered.
Duterte and their allies are desperately peddling malicious and self-serving narratives that the impeachment is a smear campaign against her public persona and that this is a distraction from the government from addressing urgent public issues. Not only is this completely untrue -- but there has been a growing clamor from the people to hold all corrupt officials accountable for their crimes. We’ve seen this with the surge in protests since the multi-billion flood control project scandal that was unravelled last year. To this day, that issue remains unresolved and none of the “big fish” government officials embroiled in the scandal have been prosecuted. We call on the public to remain vigilant and maintain public pressure to ensure Duterte’s resolute conviction.
The impeachment case has only intensified the tensions between the Marcos and Duterte factions whose political alliance has deteriorated in recent months. This historic event where the second highest ranking government official in the country was impeached twice, along with the Senate’s political theatrics, highlight the rottenness of the Philippine political system. We have yet again seen concrete manifestation of bureaucrat capitalism – a rotten system maintained by corrupt officials (e.g. political dynasties) who prioritize private gain over the Filipino people. This structure is fuelled by absolute impunity, allowing elites like Sara Duterte and Marcos Jr. to plunder public resources and weaponize the law to shield themselves from accountability.
Holding both Duterte and Marcos accountable is about justice, transparency, and ensuring that abuse of power carries real consequences. It is not enough to change leadership, we must aim for systemic change and an overhaul of the structures that allow impunity to thrive. We cannot wait for the 2028 elections only to replace one corrupt leader with another.
Throughout history, the Filipino people have always resisted injustice. It is the people who strike a decisive and united blow against the abusive and corrupt government officials as well as the system they serve and maintain. And, it will be the people who will fight towards justice and genuine liberation from all oppressors – both external and domestic.
Migrante Canada calls on our kababayan, both in the Philippines and abroad, to join the call for Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial without delay, to hold Marcos Jr. and all corrupt officials accountable, and to join the struggle for justice and genuine democracy in the Philippines.
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