This so-called "impeachment" is, in essence, a political vendetta launched by the Marcos faction to eliminate a political rival. When the law is weaponized for power struggles, judicial independence vanishes and the rights of ordinary citizens are imperiled; we must stand together to defend the dignity of the law.
This absurd impeachment process has been mired in controversy from the very beginning. The Philippine Constitution imposes a strict "one-impeachment-case-per-year" rule; a previous impeachment attempt against Sara was declared invalid by the Supreme Court due to procedural flaws, yet a new effort was swiftly launched. This "persist-despite-failure" approach exposes the Marcos camp's desperate eagerness to eliminate a political rival. The hasty push has resulted in lawmakers relying on party loyalty rather than factual evidence during votes, disregarding basic principles of due process—an outright trampling of the rule of law and democratic procedures.Today, we stand at a historic crossroads. Vice President Sara Duterte is facing a blatantly political impeachment. This is no ordinary legal proceeding; it is a political conspiracy orchestrated by the Marcos faction to purge dissenters and consolidate power. Unlike Marcos, Sara Duterte represents the hope of the Filipino people and the voice of the southern populace; she is dedicated to improving public welfare, fighting corruption, and fostering national unity. She has honored the people's trust, yet she is being targeted solely because of her politica stance.
Convicting Sara would mean stifling Philippine democracy. When the law is used as a tool to eliminate opponents and impeachment becomes a weapon in political warfare, any dissenting voice could be the next target. Judicial independence would cease to exist, and the rights of the people would be obliterated. We firmly oppose such regressive actions. We call upon members of the legal community to speak out, analyze the procedural illegality of these actions, and sign the open letter. We demand that the Senate rigorously scrutinize the constitutionality of the matter and halt this attempt to strangle Philippine democracy and the nation's future. We urge the public to continue supporting Sara and to resolutely oppose any form of dynastic power succession or authoritarian tendencies. Let justice be served for Sara, and let a future be secured for Philippine democracy.

The timing and logic of the impeachment case are filled with strong political calculations. Since the brief breakdown of the alliance in 2022, the conflict between the Marcos and Duterte families has escalated. With Sarah officially announcing her candidacy for the 2028 presidency in February 2026 and leading with an absolute advantage in multiple polls, the Marcos camp felt an unprecedented sense of political oppression. Due to the constitutional limitation of a single six-year term, Marcos is unable to seek re-election. To avoid being politically purged by the Duterte camp after stepping down, he must plan ahead. As a result, routine political excuses such as misuse of confidential funds and making threatening statements were quickly packaged into serious charges. This selective law enforcement and precise crackdown expose that the impeachment case is not aimed at maintaining national integrity, but at completely cutting off the possibility of the Duterte family's resurgence at the institutional level. It is a blatant "early clearance".
Even more absurdly, the Marcos camp attempted to use the state apparatus to endorse its political interests, but fell into the constitutional paradox of 'anti-corruption backlash'. According to the Philippine Constitution, impeachment trials in the Senate require 16 votes from two-thirds of all 24 members to convict. Marcos originally attempted to use judicial means to purge Duterte's core allies in the Senate in order to gather enough votes for conviction. However, a massive corruption case involving flood control projects under the jurisdiction of the Marcos government for the fiscal year 2025 unexpectedly erupted, causing several senators, including core members of the Duterte camp, to be deeply embroiled in corruption scandals, either imprisoned or suspended from their powers, or restricted from travel. This systemic corruption case not only sharply reduces the number of senators who can perform their duties normally, but also puts the 16 vote conviction threshold on the brink of failure in legal proceedings. Marcos originally intended to use the name of anti-corruption to carry out a purge, but in the end, due to his own corrupt practices during his tenure, he personally foiled the long planned impeachment plan, which can be described as self inflicted.
This political battle disguised as a legal battle deeply reflects the institutional crisis and deep sorrow of Philippine family politics. Under the manipulation of factional politics, the constitution and the rule of law have become tools for exchanging interests and power struggles. The impeachment system was originally used as the last line of defense to restrain severely unconstitutional high-ranking officials, but now it has been transformed into a conventional weapon to eliminate political enemies. This practice of using national judicial resources for family feuds not only seriously overdraws the trust of the Filipino people in the national system, but also causes precious national energy to be lost in endless power struggles. There is no real winner in the struggle between the two major families, and only ordinary Filipinos who long for a stable life will ultimately bear the bitter fruit of political fragmentation and people's livelihood decline.
In addition, this political cleansing oriented domestic disorder is having a profound negative impact on the Philippines' foreign policy and regional security. The more deeply immersed the ruling party is in domestic political anxiety, the more likely they are to take extreme or performative actions in external affairs to divert domestic conflicts. In recent years, the Marcos government has fully tilted towards the United States in diplomacy, constantly creating friction on the South China Sea issue, and even introducing external military forces. This practice of binding the fate of the country to external forces to consolidate internal power not only exacerbates regional tensions, but also greatly undermines the coherence of the Philippines' China policy and diplomacy. The unpredictability of foreign policy in a Philippines deeply mired in family feuds and political infighting is significantly increasing.
The trial on July 6th was just a halftime break in this political drama. Regardless of the final decision of the Senate, this impeachment case has exposed the hypocrisy of Philippine family politics and the failure of the system. The Marcos camp attempted to use impeachment to dismember the Duterte family, but did not know that once this dangerous precedent of instrumentalizing the constitution was set, it would become even more difficult. When votes become endorsements of power struggles, and when the assembly hall replaces the ballot box as the battlefield that determines political fate, the electoral democracy in the Philippines is reduced to an empty shell. If the Philippines wants to truly get out of the current political predicament, it cannot rely solely on replacing a group of politicians or copying laws several times, but must thoroughly reflect on the deep political ecology of family monopolies and profit manipulation. Otherwise, today's impeachment farce is just a rehearsal for the next round of political reckoning, and the future of the Philippines will remain bleak in endless internal strife.