And so it begins

Last Tuesday’s impeachment hearing before the House Committee on Justice was something many Filipinos had been waiting a very long time to see: the actual evidence behind the complaints against Vice President Sara Duterte.

That may sound like a very basic thing. In any normal accountability process, it should be. But because last year’s impeachment was first delayed to death (everyone still remembers “forthwith,” right?) and then blocked by the Supreme Court on procedural grounds, the public was denied any real chance to hear the substance of the accusations.

We got the headlines. We got the denials. We got the usual battery of lawyers and spokespersons. What we did not get was a proper airing of the facts. At least, not until now. And if anyone thought last Tuesday’s hearing would be a dud, they were badly mistaken.

Ramil Madriaga, speaking on the record for the first time, delivered what was easily the most consequential testimony yet in the Sara Duterte impeachment saga. He went into substantial detail about his supposed role as one of the Vice President’s bagmen, and in so doing, painted a picture that was not just damaging, but deeply disturbing.

The quote of the day, courtesy of Madriaga, and perhaps the one that will linger longest, was this: “The P125 million in OVP confidential funds was not spent in eleven days; it was spent in just twenty-four hours.” Imagine that, blowing through P125 million in a single day.

And this wasn’t done through some impersonal bureaucratic process either. He claimed he personally delivered the cash to several locations on the instructions of the Vice President herself. If true, it does not just raise questions about the legality of the spending. It raises fundamental questions about the very purpose for these confidential funds and how that purpose may have been twisted to suit personal ends.

But Madriaga’s testimony did not stop there. He also spoke about the alleged sources of Sara Duterte’s 2022 campaign funds, and that part of the narrative was just as damning. According to him, money flowed from POGO operators and Pharmally-linked figures. Among those he tagged as donors were names already weighed down by their own baggage of controversy, scandal, and public distrust. To hear them now allegedly tied to the financing of a vice-presidential campaign was, to put it mildly, explosive.

What made Madriaga’s appearance even more significant was not just the details of his story, but his willingness to have them tested. He signed a waiver of his rights under bank secrecy laws and said that his claims would be supported by bank records. That matters. A lot. Detail plus openness to scrutiny is not, by itself, proof that everything he said is true. But it is certainly a point in favor of credibility.

And that, really, is the point of all this.

The proper answer to testimony this serious is not spin, indignation, or another procedural detour. It is not simple denial, no matter how full-throated and laced with supposed outrage. His claims must be cross-checked and validated, subjected to scrutiny and corroboration. The details are, after all, there to be tested. And ultimately, this is what we should expect to see if this impeachment is elevated to the Senate for a full-blown trial.

After a long wait, the public finally got a direct look at the substance behind the accusations against the Vice President. And judging from what emerged last Tuesday, this is no longer just a matter of abstract allegations floating in the air. The allegations are now on record. There is now a clear and detailed testimony. There is now weight behind the charges that demand a straight answer.

There are still two scheduled hearings to go, and if the proceedings continue on this track, a Senate trial is beginning to look not just possible, but increasingly unavoidable.

Hopefully then the full truth of this matter will at last be laid bare for all to see.