Expectations for our country in 2026

The world celebrates today another lap completed by our planet around its star. It’s a joyous occasion celebrated around the world with much merriment. There are countries that commemorate the new year in a different month, but an overwhelming majority—close to 90 percent—celebrate the beginning of a new year on this very day.

The first day of January is the time of the year that makes people engage in a psychological reset. We look back at the year that just passed and come up with self-promises and vows to do better in the new year. It’s also the time of the year when we can set expectations for our life as a nation. What significant events do we expect will happen in the new year?

First, we expect the Independent Commission for Infrastructure to render its report clearly identifying the public officials and private contractors it recommends for criminal prosecution by the Ombudsman or the Department of Justice. The ICI is the fact-finding commission created by President Marcos to investigate massive corruption in flood control and public works projects from 2015 to 2025. While the ICI has been racked by resignations, with only one commissioner remaining, we still expect a report from the ICI that will be used by our government’s prosecution agencies to move for the arrest, imprisonment, and trial of those unmasked as culprits of unprecedented corruption. The people will see through any half-hearted prosecution by the Marcos administration. The people’s fury will be fully redirected against Mr. Marcos if sham, adulterated, or selective prosecution results from the ICI investigation.

Second, we expect the refiling of the impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte in February 2026. While the Supreme Court previously stopped the impeachment complaint filed by 215 members of the House of Representatives last February 2025, the high court’s order allows the refiling of the impeachment initiative after the lapse of one year. The charges against the Vice President include graft and corruption because of her illegal use of P612.5 million in confidential funds, her threat to assassinate the President, the First Lady, and the former Speaker of the House, as well as her involvement in extrajudicial killings. If VP Sara escapes or survives impeachment in 2026, she will have tremendous chances of winning the 2028 presidential election.

Third, we expect the remainder of the preliminary issues in the prosecution against former President Rodrigo Duterte to be resolved soon by the International Criminal Court. These preliminary issues that the ICC is expected to resolve in early 2026 are the questions of his mental fitness to undergo trial and the ICC’s continuing jurisdiction over the Philippines (and Duterte), even after our country’s withdrawal from the international court. After these issues are resolved, we expect the holding of hearings for the confirmation of charges, and eventually the start of the trial against Duterte.

Fourth, we expect the arrest of Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa as a principal perpetrator of the crimes against humanity committed in the bloody drug war of the Duterte administration. Together with Duterte, Dela Rosa was a principal architect of the mass murder of many of our countrymen because he was the police chief who gave orders and implemented police operations that resulted in thousands of extrajudicial killings.

Fifth, we expect the extradition to the United States of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ head Apollo Quiboloy for the despicable crimes of sex trafficking of women and children, bulk cash smuggling, and other grave crimes he committed in that country. While Quiboloy is currently detained in a Philippine jail as he faces criminal charges committed in our country, we expect our government to hand over to the US the responsibility of holding him criminally responsible.

Sixth, we expect personalities who have ambitions of succeeding to the presidency in 2028 to come out of the woodwork, test the waters, and trumpet themselves as our country’s next leader. We expect online platforms to be inundated with self-promotion and negative attacks by and against leaders who nurture ambitions of sitting next in Malacañang.

The year 2026 is going to be a pivotal year because many events that will strongly influence our country’s direction for the foreseeable future will happen in this new year. There will be efforts to push or pull these events by leaders with contending interests. But the crucial and decisive element will be our people—voting or nonvoting—with their feet and voices, showing their approbation, rejection, or apathy, toward the direction our country is heading.

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