With everything that has happened, if accountability and command responsibility were real in our democracy, the decent way out would be for the President to resign. But given the perceived “unsuitability” of the Vice President, perhaps PBBM has convinced himself that only he can turn the country around. He conveniently forgets he is part of the problem.
Or perhaps the Palace believes that everyone else has command responsibility except the President. But all roads lead to the Palace. After all, the President is also the Commander-in-Chief. And the buck stops with the President.
If former Speaker Martin Romualdez is at fault because Zaldy Co was chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations, then logic dictates that the President is also accountable and just as liable for Romualdez’s shortcomings since he was PBBM’s choice for Speaker of the House.
But I have come to the foregone conclusion that impeachment, being a political process, is just code for: “Kung gusto, maraming paraan; kung ayaw, maraming dahilan.”
As we witness Congress making a show of deliberating on the allegations in the impeachment complaints filed against President Bongbong Marcos, I wonder if there is anyone out there who actually thinks there is any sliver of hope of PBBM being impeached.
On this note, it does not even matter what the allegations against him are. Neither does it matter that, under his presidency, corruption and crime have thrived. Or that our economy is at an all-time low. Never mind also that the quality of life of Filipinos has continued to decline. Suffering is the new normal, and luck is elusive at best.
Then why is Congress even bothering with the pretext of going through the process in the case of the impeachment complaints filed against PBBM? Does anyone actually believe the present composition of the House of Representatives, made up of more or less the same people in the last Congress, would ever consider the prospect of removing Marcos and installing the Vice President in his stead?
Remember the Tri-Comm, the Quad-Comm and all other committees that did everything to pin down Vice President Sara Duterte and her entire office over the use of confidential funds? The detention of members of the Office of the Vice President staff? And the failed impeachment bid against VP Sara Duterte last year voted upon by substantially the same people now purportedly considering impeaching PBBM?
In what universe would this Congress make way for the very person they persecuted and pushed against the wall to become President? There is no chance in this world that PBBM will ever be impeached by this Congress. Not this year or next year, at least not while Sara Duterte is Vice President.
Which brings me back to the question: Why the pretext? To lend credibility to their second attempt at the impeachment of Sara Duterte and to ensure whoever is elected President in 2028 will be their anointed successor or at least an ally who will guarantee the non-prosecution of any and all crimes committed by the President and his immediate family once presidential immunity is lifted.
In an ideal and just world, choosing between impeaching Sara Duterte for her complicity in the use of confidential funds and impeaching PBBM for his role in the flood control scandal should be a no-brainer. Think about it.