𝗖𝗲𝗻𝗣𝗘𝗚 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝗮𝗿𝗮 𝗗𝘂𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗲’𝘀 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁

The Center for People Empowerment in Governance (CenPEG) expresses deep concern over the apparent drift toward impunity in the face of the impeachment complaint filed against Vice President Sara Duterte. As allegations of misuse of public funds and abuse of authority mount, any deliberate inaction or political shielding by the country’s top institutions threatens to erode the rule of law and constitutional accountability. 

The Constitution is clear: once an impeachment complaint has passed through the House of Representatives, the Senate is constitutionally bound to convene as an impeachment court and hold a trial. Any refusal or delay to fulfill this mandate is not only a dereliction of duty — it is a direct assault on democratic checks and balances.

As Prof. Roland Simbulan, CenPEG Chair, firmly states:

“𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙝𝙞𝙜𝙝 𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙚𝙡𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙡𝙚𝙜𝙖𝙡 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮, 𝙬𝙚 𝙨𝙡𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙚𝙥𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙯𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙮. 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙎𝙚𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙚 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙖𝙣 𝙡𝙤𝙮𝙖𝙡𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙪𝙥𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙞𝙩𝙨 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙩𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙧𝙤𝙡𝙚. 𝙏𝙤 𝙙𝙤 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙬𝙞𝙨𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙮 𝙥𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙘 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙨𝙩.”

If there was impunity for extrajudicial killings during the Duterte presidency, there is now impunity for corruption and plunder under the Marcos Jr. administration. Indeed, they are two sides of the same coin: regimes that treat power as a shield from accountability and justice.

CenPEG calls on all democratic forces — civil society, the legal community, the academe, and the public — to remain vigilant. We must demand that the processes of accountability, no matter how politically sensitive, be carried out in full view of the people and in strict adherence to the rule of law. 

𝗜𝗺𝗽𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗻𝗼 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗰𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘆. 𝗜𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗲𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗰𝘁, 𝗶𝘁 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗮 𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗲: 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿, 𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗱, 𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘆.

We cannot and must not allow that precedent to stand.