Know the fundamentals of impeachment. The vice president has already been impeached. Of course, she has not yet been tried by the Senate or convicted. The complainants may not have the support of 16 senators to convict. But after the May polls, conviction is more feasible.
One thing is sure: the die has been cast. The Palace and the House have crossed the Rubicon. There’s no more turning back. The initial equivocation by the president, supposedly that this isn’t the time to divide the nation, has been reversed. The House secretary-general delayed action on the first three impeachment charges. They were just water cannons. The fourth one is an atomic bomb.
The fact that the first signatory among the 215 members of the House who verified the Fourth Impeachment Complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte is no less than favorite presidential son, Congressman Sandro Araneta Marcos, was the awaited signal that the Palace has finally given the green light to attack. And what a blitzkrieg.
It was timed surreptitiously when the attention of all legislators was focused on the budget and the PhilHealth imbroglio. It turned out that they were just diversionary tactics. The Duterte camp was lulled into overconfidence that impeachment wasn’t forthcoming because the House secretariat dragged its feet and failed to act on the three charges with urgency.
But the speaker and the Palace had a surprise Valentines' gift for the vice president. VP Sara faced karma. When her father was lording it all in Malacañang, she had strong influence over the entire Congress even while she was still Davao City mayor. By her machinations, schemes, and pressures, she ousted Bebot Alvarez as speaker and installed her fairy godmother, GMA.
In wreaking revenge on Alvarez who displeased her and her parochial political party, then city mayor Sara reportedly called members of Congress personally and asked that Alvarez, a loyal ally of her father, be ousted. And to the great consternation of her dad, she got what she desired. Now, the tide has turned. The vice president gets a dose of her own bitter medicine.
A total of 215 members of Congress verified the fourth complaint after they were summoned to the House for a quickie caucus. And while Secgen Reginald Velasco took almost forever to act on the first three impeachment charges, it only took him less than five hours to gather the 215 signatures and had the plenary approve it for endorsement to the Senate. And the rest is his story or her story.
The vice president will go down in Philippine history as the first vice president to have been impeached. Not even former vice president Diosdado Macapagal, a Liberal Party stalwart, was impeached during the administration of President Carlos P. Garcia, a Nacionalsita. Not even Fernando Lopez, who had a falling out with Marcos before martial law, was impeached.
Not even Salvador Laurel, who bickered with President Cory Aquino, was impeached. Much less Teofisto Guingona impeached after he denounced the "Hello, Garci" hullabaloo. Jojo Binay wasn’t a partymate of President PNoy just as GMA wasn’t Erap's teammate. Erap didn’t have GMA impeached. Instead, it was GMA who ousted Erap.
And so, Inday Sara now has a very special place in history. When all isn’t well and her father is out of power, all her so-called allies abandoned her. She can no longer call her allies, not even Alvarez whom she ousted. She is like Goldilocks, lost in the forest and surrounded by three bears (the president, the first lady, and the speaker) and members of an enemy tribe who have axes to grind and are salivating for her porridge.
All the false friends and allies of the Dutertes have stabbed her in the back, except for some faithful allies: her fairy godmother GMA, the Revillas of Cavite and, of course, Las Piñas' rising or falling star Camille Villar, who desperately hungers for the Mindanao vote to salvage her fledgling ambition to replace her mom and join her kuya in a Senate of siblings and half-siblings.
This impeachment reminds us all and warns all politicians, both those in power and those out, that indeed in politics there are no permanent friends or permanent allies. The only thing permanent is that almost all politicians are hungry for power, money, and glory all the time. And they are ready to do a Brutus and to slay any Julius Caesar, friend or foe, enemy or ally. Blood is thicker than water but politics is much thicker than blood.