Which of the two impeachment cases filed in the House of Representatives against VP Sara will prevail – the one by the group of civil societies, or the one set to be filed the other day by members of the Makabayan bloc in the Lower Chamber?
Or, will the two cases be consolidated and the evidence with strongest weight be the ones to be attached to support the push for its adoption by the Lower House and eventual transmittal to the Senate whose members will sit as judges?
But any which one, we have this personal feeling that those who filed the impeachment cases are not really that serious. Instead, we suspect, they did the thing for publicity sake and to establish their role in what now appears a persecution of Vice President Sara Duterte.
Let us take even just a cursory look at the video coverage of the filing by the civil society group. Other than the members of the religious and the leaders of the participating civil societies the presence of former Senator Leila De Lima and ACT-Teachers Partylist congresswoman France Castro was conspicuous. Are not the two candidates in the midterm elections set in May? Yes, De Lima is first nominee of a newly-minted Partylist organization of known opposition personalities, while Castro is running for Senator under a group composed of Makabayan organizations.
Given this information, and the knowledge that it will require substantial time for the Lower House members to deliberate on the impeachment cases as well as look into the supporting evidence, we doubt if the proximity of the May 2025 election will not hamper the disposition of the oust Sara move.
In other words, with the complainants knowing the lack of material time they sure know the limitations they are facing to succeed in their impeachment moves. So, how could any right thinking Filipino believe they are that serious in their desire to banish the second highest official of the land from her office?
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In a matter of three months candidates for local elective positions will be travelling to the various parts of the entire Davao City (for mayor and vice mayor), and in the district where they are running (for councilors and congressmen). Both the re-electionists and the new aspirants will be promising to the people the earth, moon, and even sun just to convince the constituents they are worthy of their votes.
Of course those who are running for re-election have all the advantages. They can come up with a litany of their accomplishments for the last three years even including those things they do not have any participation in realizing. They are also likely to include another set of promises that they intend to bring to realization if they’ll be given another chance in the office.
Of course the non-re-electionist candidates will be offering nebulous commitments to the people. We say nebulous because their only chance of realizing their commitment is if they win in the political battle.
The question though is, will they win? The new candidates, especially those outside the ambit of the local government administration, could be fighting a very uphill political battle. Imagine being outside the loop where the resources of the political party are in! They definitely cannot be able to harness the same for their campaign. Unlike those running under the administration, they certainly have all the opportunity to be part of any political activities the expenses of which are borne by the party in power.
Of course there is still the possibility that those running under the national administration but are considered opposition at the local level may be beneficiaries of the resources coming from the national party in power; more so if the candidates identified with the national administration are bent on devastating the locals. For certain these candidates will have a better chance of winning. But is the resource keeper of the national administration willing enough to part with the Party’s money and related resources to the local candidates opposing those under the local administration like the ones in Davao City?
We can only hope that your guess is as good as ours. Otherwise, the candidates, especially those against the local administration, are likely to lose steam even at the middle of the campaign period.
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