The day after

The day after | Daily Tribune

As of 26 September, the trial remains in progress. The Senate impeachment court has adopted a new interpretation of the constitutional two-thirds requirement, counting only the senators legally and factually capable of participating when judgment is rendered. The ruling has been challenged before the Supreme Court but was denied.

Whatever the final legal arguments, the country is approaching a moment whose consequences will extend far beyond the Senate chamber.

A conviction will remove Sara Duterte from the vice presidency and disqualify her from running for public office. The impeachment judgment, however, will remain separate from any criminal or civil proceedings arising from matters involved in the case.

The political consequences would be much broader.

For her supporters, the verdict will be viewed as political persecution. For those who supported impeachment, it will be regarded as constitutional accountability. Either interpretation will only deepen an already polarized political environment.

A conviction will not erase the Duterte political base or make millions of Duterte supporters disappear from the political landscape. Nor will it end the political contest already looking toward 2028.

It can intensify it.

An impeachment conviction will answer one constitutional question. Has the required Senate vote been reached to remove the Vice President from office?

It will not automatically restore public trust.

An acquittal will allow Sara Duterte to remain Vice President. Her supporters will likely regard it as vindication, while those who supported impeachment will argue that the prosecution failed to establish the case to the required constitutional standard or secure the necessary votes.

But acquittal shall not automatically mean that every allegation presented during the trial was false. That distinction matters.

Impeachment is a constitutional proceeding with its own rules and voting requirements. The Senate judgment determines whether the threshold for conviction has been met. It is not necessarily a judicial finding on every allegation or controversy raised during the proceedings.

An acquittal will nevertheless have major political consequences. It will strengthen Duterte’s political position, alter alliances, and influence politicians preparing for the next elections.

But again, the verdict will not settle everything.

Whatever the verdict, Filipinos will wake up the next morning to the same country.

The flood control controversy will still be there. Corruption will still have to be confronted. The economy will still need investments, jobs and competitiveness. Prices will still matter to ordinary families. Government services will still need improvement. Infrastructure will still require competent management.

And public trust will still have to be rebuilt.

That is why the day after the verdict may matter more than the verdict itself.

If Sara Duterte is convicted, the country should not mistake a political victory for the solution to its larger problems.

If she is acquitted, neither should the country mistake acquittal for the disappearance of every question raised during the trial.

The Senate can resolve an impeachment case, but it cannot resolve the deeper crisis of confidence in government.

That requires much more than casting votes.

It requires institutions citizens can trust, transparency in public spending, accountability that does not depend on who is being investigated, due process that is respected even when the accused is unpopular, and competence from those entrusted with public office.

Most of all, we must stop treating every political contest as a battle between good and evil, heroes and villains, our side and their side.

The country is bigger than any politician.

When the gavel falls, one side will celebrate and the other will grieve. Some will call the verdict justice. Others will call it injustice. Social media will explode. Political camps will issue statements. Commentators will dissect every vote.

Then the headlines will fade. But the people will remain.

They will go to work, send their children to school, pay their bills, endure congested roads, and worry about prices, jobs, health, education, and the future.

But they will still expect government to govern.

And perhaps that is where the real significance of this impeachment lies.

The verdict will belong to the Senate. The consequences will belong to the country.

History will eventually ask a much larger question than whether Sara Duterte was convicted or acquitted.

After all the accusations, arguments, speeches, political battles, and months of national attention, did the Philippines become better governed?

That is the question that will remain when the cameras are gone and the country wakes up to face the unfinished business of nation-building.

The Senate will have delivered its judgment. But the Filipino people will still be waiting for something more enduring than a political verdict.

Better governance. Stronger institutions. Genuine accountability.

And a country that finally puts the national interest above political survival.

That is what will truly define THE DAY AFTER.