𝗖𝗲𝗻𝗣𝗘𝗚: 𝗩𝗣 𝗗𝘂𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗲 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗧𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗔𝗺𝗶𝗱 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗿𝘂𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

The think tank Center for People Empowerment in Governance (CenPEG) said the opening day of the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte marks a critical test of the country's democratic institutions and the constitutional principle that no public official is above the law.

CenPEG Chairperson Prof. Roland G. Simbulan stressed that the proceedings should not be viewed merely as a political contest but as an opportunity to uphold public accountability at a time when millions of Filipinos continue to struggle with poverty despite official claims of economic progress.

"𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵. 𝘈𝘵 𝘢 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘍𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘰𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴, 𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘥. 𝘊𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘶𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘣𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦," Simbulan said.

While the World Bank has recently classified the Philippines as an upper middle-income economy, Simbulan noted that such macroeconomic indicators do not reflect the daily realities experienced by many Filipino families.

"𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘶𝘱𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘺 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧

𝘍𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘰𝘴. 𝘌𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘤 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘧𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘧𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘬, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘳𝘣𝘢𝘯 𝘱𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘭. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘱 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘤 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘯, 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦," he added.

CenPEG emphasized that corruption diverts scarce public resources away from essential services such as education, health care, food security, housing, and disaster preparedness, further deepening inequality and undermining public trust in government.

The policy center called on senators serving as judges in the impeachment court to discharge their constitutional duty with independence, impartiality, and fidelity to the public interest.

"𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘰 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘢 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘳, 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴. 𝘈𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘨𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘶𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯," Simbulan concluded. ###