Proving VP raps, Marcos’ acid test
‘The Filipino people will realize that their money is just being absorbed into the pockets of our legislators and our high government officials.’
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‘The Filipino people will realize that their money is just being absorbed into the pockets of our legislators and our high government officials.’
The impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte would be the first concrete test of whether the Marcos administration can heed its own call for justice and turn corruption allegations into accountability, according to University of the Philippines School of Economics professor emeritus Solita Monsod.
“We know who the crooks are, don’t we? But knowing something and being able to prove something are two different things,” Monsod said on a recent episode of the DAILY TRIBUNE program, Straight Talk.
“Now, we’ve started with Sara Duterte, and it seems that that can be proven. And we’ll start with that. And the Filipino people will realize that their money is just being absorbed into the pockets of our legislators and our high government officials,” she said.
In his 2026 State of the Nation Address, Marcos renewed his administration’s call to pursue those responsible for corruption and ensure that public funds are protected from misuse, calling for stronger accountability and transparency in the use of government resources, issues the Vice President’s second impeachment trial fall squarely under.
The impeachment case against Duterte includes allegations of misuse of confidential funds, unexplained wealth, bribery, and grave threats.
The House prosecution panel has presented evidence alleging misuse of P612.5 million in confidential funds allocated to the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd). It has also raised questions over liquidation documents and alleged fictitious recipients.
The case also cites Duterte’s remarks on contracting an assassin to kill President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and then Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez if she were slain first.
Mocking the process
The Senate impeachment court is now on its 20th day of trial. The case would require 16 votes, or two-thirds of the 24-member chamber, to convict Duterte.
“Cayetano is no longer attending the hearings. Legarda is no longer attending the hearings,” Monsod said.
“And if they vote for acquittal, binababoy nila ang proseso (they are disrespecting the process),” she added.
Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, who was elected Senate president in May, was removed from the post in June after a leadership dispute, with Senator Sherwin Gatchalian subsequently elected Senate president.
Cayetano has been absent from the impeachment trial and Senate plenary sessions since 11 August, with his office yet to explain his absence.
Senator Loren Legarda, meanwhile, has been on medical leave since 3 August and has repeatedly extended her leave. She and her son, Batangas Representative Leandro Leviste, also face an Ombudsman investigation involving alleged graft and plunder linked to solar energy projects. Both have denied the allegations.
Senators Rodante Marcoleta and Jinggoy Estrada are facing separate plunder cases linked to alleged corruption and are under detention, while Senator Ronald “Bato” de la Rosa is the subject of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant and has been in hiding for months.
Monsod said the current political instability in the Senate underscores the need to conduct the impeachment trial fairly and transparently.
Monsod, also a former NEDA director general, said the public’s focus on the impeachment trial should not detract from its scrutiny of the national budget, which the Senate is currently deliberating.
“This whole impeachment is all part and parcel of that story,” she said “We have young students, graduate students, professors, academics — they are all looking at that budget now. They’re not looking at the impeachment trial.”
“Whether we will do it is something else again. But one thing I can tell you for sure — we can do it,” she stressed.
