What if dropping the charges was to secure an acquittal?

The decision to withdraw three of the four impeachment charges against Vice President Sara Duterte unsettled the minds of many Filipinos, including those who rabidly hate her and her family. The ensuing debate about the move raised a lot of unsettling questions as well. Such as, were the prosecution and the impeachment court mindful to make acquittal easier for a presidential aspirant whose popularity remains significant?

There is no publicly established evidence that the withdrawal was designed to secure the VP’s acquittal. The prosecution maintains that the remaining charge of unexplained wealth is sufficient to justify her removal and that concentrating on one article will shorten proceedings. But in Pinoy politics, where legal proceedings and electoral calculations often intersect, the political consequences of a decision deserve scrutiny alongside its stated legal rationale.

The VP’s continuing popularity provides a peculiar layer in the broader political context. A conviction would remove her from office and disqualify her from holding public office, potentially ending her presidential ambitions. An acquittal would blast that immediate constitutional obstacle. But the ramifications extend beyond the VP herself. Every political family now, many of whom are directly involved in the impeachment trial, have an eye on the 2028 elections.

Leaving just one remaining charge may make acquittal politically easier for individual senators. The withdrawn articles no longer require them to take a position on those allegations in reaching the verdict, potentially reducing the political cost of voting to acquit. Again, this is not to say with certainty that all senators will vote for political reasons or that the prosecution intended to facilitate acquittal. This is just about dynastic politics inciting a case of ‘malikot na isip’ in many of us.

Sadly, whether we like it or not, the impeachment trial is unfolding against the deeper problem of dynastic politics and the struggle to control the 2028 presidential succession. Obviously, lawmakers operate within the same political environment that will determine who occupies Malacañang when President Bongbong Marcos completes his term. Unavoidably, they face incentives to consider how a conviction or acquittal could affect their alliances and electoral prospects.

The Marcos–Duterte rivalry, in a perverse way, makes lawmakers see the impeachment through a binary choice: either support Duterte against what her camp describes as political persecution, or support her removal as a necessary act of accountability. This framing risks obscuring the more fundamental questions of whether public funds were properly handled, whether constitutional obligations were fulfilled, and whether the evidence meets the standard for impeachment.

The withdrawal has objectively simplified a previously complicated impeachment trial. The prosecution even touts this as an advantage to the VP. Which just fuels the scepticism of some folks to imagine a scenario where the move was designed to lay the groundwork for an acquittal verdict. Prosecutors failing to provide a logical explanation why they decided to drop the charges when they have already presented clear and convincing evidence to support a conviction verdict, simply does not allay suspicious minds.

In truth, the 2028 election will test not only the VP’s political survival but also whether voters can look beyond family loyalties and assess candidates on their conduct, policies and respect for constitutional institutions. Filipinos can also hope against hope that the Senate does not use the verdict as a weapon wielded by one dynasty against another. If the trial becomes merely another episode in a struggle for dynastic succession, the winner may secure an electoral advantage, but our democracy will remain the loser.

However, to all those anxious about another dynastic presidency, the Dapat Isa Lang Movement offers a cure. Join them in passing a genuine anti-dynasty law and those elected in 2028 will serve only the public interest, even with a Duterte in Malacañang. Passing this law now can stop the domination of clowns and plunderers over our politics and governance moving forward. We always hear, ‘Filipinos deserve better’. Well, enacting this law via People’s Initiative will make that a reality.