The Senate’s decision to defer the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte is an act of sheer cowardice and a betrayal of public trust, a press release from Bayan Negros said.
Instead of fulfilling their constitutional duty, the senators are hiding behind technicalities, mocking justice, and sending a dangerous message: that power and loyalty to the ruling elite can shield one from accountability.
Vice President Duterte faces grave charges: the misuse of over P612 million in confidential funds during her time as Vice President and Education Secretary; shady disbursements to fictitious recipients, unauthorized transfers, and a systematic refusal to undergo proper audit. On top of this are allegations of P2 billion in unexplained wealth and her direct role in the bloody extrajudicial killings during her time as Davao City mayor.
Yet instead of upholding the Constitution (which clearly states that the impeachment trial must “forthwith proceed”) figures like Senate President Chiz Escudero are feigning ignorance and shirking their responsibility. His denial of receiving the draft resolution to junk the impeachment is nothing but an opportunist’s maneuver to save face while protecting the powerful. Escudero has proven himself to be a leader without principle, a servant to convenience over country, the statement said.
It is no surprise that the resolution pushing for the “de facto dismissal” of the impeachment trial was authored by none other than Senator Bato dela Rosa, the former police chief and unflinching lapdog of the Duterte dynasty. The resolution, now being circulated in the Senate, is a sloppy, legally hollow document, unfit even for a law intern’s draft. This brazen move is a direct attack on the people’s right to demand truth and accountability, it added.
In Negros, where the people struggle daily with poverty, landlessness, and state neglect, the misuse of billions is not just a statistic, it is stolen futures: stolen classrooms, healthcare clinics, livelihoods. By refusing to act, the Senate reinforces a culture of impunity that has long enabled the powerful to plunder and kill without consequence.
We must not remain silent. The lesson of EDSA II is clear: when the people rise together, even the most entrenched officials can be brought down. Let the people of Negros and the entire nation rise in collective clamor. Convict Sara now! Hold the cowardly and self-serving senators accountable!*
