VICE President Sara Duterte, the second-highest official of the land, must be removed from her position and perpetually barred from holding any public office, if the overwhelming majority of members of the House of Representatives who impeached her twice were to be asked. She is unfit to remain as vice president and even much more to be president.
To the 257 House members who voted to impeach her, Duterte misused P625 million in confidential funds; is guilty of corruption and procurement irregularities; amassed unexplained wealth; and betrayed public trust by inciting sedition and making death threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., first lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and former speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez. Thus, the second articles of impeachment were elevated to the Senate on May 13, 2026, and the hearing continues since commencing on July 6.
In the middle of the vastly negative publicity about Duterte, the media reported the results of the Social Weather Stations’ (SWS) Second Quarter 2026 nationwide survey from June 20 to 29. It showed that 58 percent of respondents were satisfied with Duterte’s performance, while 26 percent were dissatisfied. This gave her a “good” net satisfaction rating of +31. This was a two-point increase from the +29 rating she received in the March 2026 survey, where 54 percent of respondents were satisfied and 25 percent were dissatisfied. At the time, the hearings in the House Committee on Justice were in full swing and garnered wide media coverage.
Considering Duterte’s vilification in the court of public opinion and the results of those two SWS polls, one may ask: How reflective of public sentiment or perception could surveys of this kind be?
Palace Press Officer Claire Castro shrugged off the SWS survey rating but did not challenge the poll results. President Marcos, she said, is unfazed by the rise or fall in his ratings (-15 in March and -7 in June). His focus is on the delivery of government programs and services to people.
House prosecution panel spokesman Ace Barbers dismissed Duterte’s “good” rating in the SWS survey despite being impeached in the House and now facing an impeachment trial in the Senate. It is “irrelevant,” he said of the rating, because the trial is a constitutional process and not a popularity contest or beauty pageant. The rating does not give her a “license” to misuse funds or violate the law, he added.
Indeed, we are yet to have a glimpse of how the public would rate Duterte’s performance and trustworthiness in the coming days as she continues to make her presence felt in calamity-stricken villages and in commiserating with victims of misfortunes. Whether she would continue to fare high in nationwide polls. But so far, Duterte’s improved rating may prompt one to ask: Are we seeing the Filipino “underdog mentality”? We will know in September as the impeachment trial progresses.
Action speaks louder than words
The government vigorously denies the accusation of the political persecution of Duterte and her allies. National leaders say the state’s investigation and law enforcement, as well as prosecution arms, merely follow the evidence wherever it leads them. And they are filing cases regardless of who gets indicted. But in the dissonance between what it says and what it does, the public finds it difficult to reconcile.
Duterte supporters call out the gradual “elimination” of the Duterte bloc in the Senate, beginning with Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, who is evading arrest after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a warrant for it. Two other pro-Duterte senators, Jinggoy Estrada and Rodante Marcoleta, were arrested without bail for plunder. Next to be arrested on the ICC’s bidding after dela Rosa is Sen. Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go.
Just last week, the National Bureau of Investigation announced the reopening of its investigation into the 2019 Southeast Asian Games, where the organizing committee was led by now-Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano. And while the complainant was Tindig Pilipinas, the Ombudsman is perceived to be keenly interested in the charges of obstruction of justice against Sen. Robinhood Padilla and Cayetano.
Major participants who have turned state witnesses in the flood-control fund scandal have implicated high government officials in this corruption of public funds of the highest order. They have named Romualdez, former party-list lawmaker Elizalde “Zaldy” Co, former undersecretary Adrian Bersamin, and former budget secretary Amenah Pangandaman, among others. Yet they remain scot-free, and not even investigated or charged.
Manuel Bonoan, the former public works secretary who was charged as one of the principals, was recommended for discharge to be state witness. And Pangandaman was even appointed chairman and chief executive officer of state-owned Al-Amanah Islamic Investment Bank of the Philippines.
Surveys as purveyor of public sentiment
With all this disconnect, groups sympathetic to Duterte cannot help but ask: Is the government really interested in holding all corrupt public officials accountable? Is it really after state officials who betrayed public trust in the custody and use of public funds? To regain public trust in government, the state must show resolve in eliminating corruption without political favor or consideration.
It is not for us to say at this time. But if the circumstances of the case, the pieces of evidence offered, and the testimonies of witnesses presented would lead the Senate, as an impeachment court, to render a guilty verdict, then Duterte will go down in history as the first vice president to be removed and forever barred from holding public office again.
That, to the prosecutors in the impeachment hearing, is a triumph, but to the rest of the Filipinos, it is a Pyrrhic victory. The other thieves in government’s high offices are safe and preparing for the 2028 elections.
At this point, the public is yet to see the same fervor and resolve in going after the perpetrators of the multibillion heist of people’s hard-earned money.
The battle against corruption is long and difficult. But it must be won, by us, in the 2028 national elections by voting for candidates worthy of our trust.
atty.edarevalo@gmail.com
