Edsa rallies hit inaction on Sara impeach raps
Various groups pushing for the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte blame both the House of Representatives and President Marcos for the delay in the move to oust the second highest official of the land they are accusing of violating the Constitution.
Akbayan Rep. Perci Cendana, who endorsed one of the three impeachment complaints against Duterte, on Friday called out the House leadership for its “cowardice” sleeping on the complaints.
“The time has come to take decisive action and finally impeach the vice president,” Cendaña told a 10,000-strong crowd that gathered at the Edsa Shrine in a rally for Duterte’s ouster. “As long as she remains in power, we let corruption reign in our government.”
‘What’s the date now?’
Cendana expressed exasperation and frustration over the inaction of the House to the impeachment complaints. The first one he had endorsed was filed on Dec. 2, 2024.
“What’s the date now?” he said. “January is almost over but Congress has yet to act on the complaints. Is Congress simply going to allow itself to be intimidated and defeated by Sara and her chichiryang palusot (snacks of an excuse)?”
He appealed to fellow lawmakers to prioritize “our moral and national obligations, not our fears for the upcoming elections,” he said, referring to the midterm polls in May.
“We should not be affected by the number of votes we think we could gain or lose if we support impeachment,” Cendana said. “We must uphold our constitutional mandate to revoke the powers of abusive government officials.”
Complainant groups
The gathering was led by the complainants of the first and third impeachment cases: Tindig Pilipinas, Akbayan partylist, Fr. Joel Saballa, Fr. Bong Sarabia, ML Partylist, Magdalo Partylist Second Nominee Eugene Gonzales, Kiko Aquino Dee, EveryWoman, August Twenty-One Movement (ATOM), SIKLAB, Nagkaisa Labor Coalition, Kalipunan, Student Council Alliance of the Philippines (SCAP), ASAP, and Akbayan Youth.
The second impeachment complaint was filed by the Makabayan bloc composed of ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro, Kabataan Rep. Raoul Manuel, and Gabriela Rep. Arlene Brosas.
All three complaints remain with the Office of the Solicitor General so far and have not yet been referred to the House committee on justice.
“When will you act on this very important complaint to hold accountable a thief and an abuser of power in the person of Vice President Sara Duterte?” he asked his House colleagues.
Under the rules, the House has 10 session days from receipt of a complaint to calendar it for consideration.
Marcos damper
House Secretary General Reginald Velasco previously told the Inquirer that some lawmakers were inclined to simply gather the endorsement of one-third of the House to send it straight to the Senate for trial without having to go to plenary.
Mr. Marcos, despite the breakup of his alliance with Duterte, put a damper on the move to oust her.
Days before the first impeachment complaint was filed on Dec. 2, 2024, Mr. Marcos asked his allies in the House not to proceed with her impeachment, saying she was “unimportant” and it would just be a waste of time that would shift their attention from more urgent matters.
Early this month, he said there was not enough time for an impeachment.
All three impeachment complaints accuse Duterte of culpable violation of the Constitution and cited, among other charges, her alleged misuse of P625 million in confidential funds of the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education when she headed it.
Magdalo sans Trillanes
Former Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, a key organizer of the rally, did not show up. His Magdalo comrade, Eugene Gonzales, said they will continue calling on the House to proceed with the impeachment.
“That is the role of the public, to call on our leaders in Congress to listen to us. We cannot remain silent,” Gonzales said.
“As the vice president, she is already abusive, what more if she will be holding the highest position?” he said, referring to the Vice President’s possible run for the presidency, following in the footsteps of her father, ex-President Rodrigo Duterte.
“We survived six years under a Duterte, do we want another six years under another Duterte?” Gonzales said.
Political analyst Ronald Llamas said that if Duterte is not impeached, the Dutertes could “create a political momentum” going into the 2028 elections.
Cory grandson
Dee, a grandson of the late President Corazon Aquino, told the Inquirer that an impeachment trial was a way to make the Vice President accountable.
“Congress really needs to act on our impeachment complaint,” Dee said. “We filed last December 2 and nothing has happened so it is really urgent for the House to start hearing our impeachment complaint.”
He said that while he did not vote for Mr. Marcos as President, Dee said he could not accept Duterte’s threat to have him assassinated along with first lady Liza Marcos-Araneta and Speaker Martin Romualdez in case an alleged plot to kill her succeeded.
He said, however, that the President’s statement against the impeachment was characteristic of the Marcoses.
“I am not surprised that he has no concept of accountability because his family always avoids accountability. But I am standing for what is right,” Dee said.
Drug war victims
Relatives of the victims of the brutal drug war during the administration of the Vice President’s father also joined the rally at the People Power Monument.
One of them was the wife of Jeffrey Atienza, who was killed by an unidentified gunman in the slum area in Payatas, Quezon City in 2017.
Aside from narcotics operatives, some of the thousands of extrajudicial killings were attributed to state-backed vigilantes, according to human rights groups.
Atienza’s wife told the Inquirer that after almost eight years, justice remained elusive for her husband.
“We are here to demand justice. Since Duterte launched his ‘tokhang,’ many in Payatas were killed and until now, there has been no justice.”
‘Panagutin!’
Some of the rallyists, including Atom members, joined the day’s second rally also pushing for Duterte’s impeachment at the Edsa Shrine organized by the Clergy and Citizens for Good Governance, which also demanded accountability from the President for the “corrupt budget” for 2025.
The protesters held banners that said, “Marcos-Duterte Panagutin!” (Hold Marcos and Duterte Accountable!).
Former Finance Undersecretary Cielo Magno said it was not enough to just impeach Duterte in order to fight the “cycle of corruption” in the country.
“With the failed and corrupt budget, there are a lot of talk. What exactly are we asking for? The budget or the impeachment of VP Sara? What is more important, the budget or impeachment?” she asked. “Both!” Magno told the crowd who echoed her answer.
“Do you know, if we choose to only call for the impeachment of VP Sara, she will just be replaced by another corrupt politician,” she said. “And that is the story of the Philippines. Again and Again, a cycle of corrupt politicians.”
She said the rally was also a call to “fix the budget” to reflect the priorities of the people.
“If we don’t fix it, we will continue to fund these corrupt politicians,” she said.
Former Commission on Audit (COA) commissioner Heidi Mendoza and labor leader Leody de Guzman, also addressed the rallyists, along with taped message from former Sen. Leila de Lima.
Police said an estimated 1,500 attended the afternoon rally.
The religious groups that joined the rally included the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches, Catholic Bishops Council of the Philippines and the Imam Council of the Philippines, alongside the Seniors for Seniors Association, Federation of Free Workers, Sanlakas and Philippine Movement for Climate Justice, as well as Konsensya Dabaw and Freedom from Debt Coalition.
