by Diego Morra
Fact is, Sara Zimmerman Duterte was impeached by the House of Representatives, with the complaint approved in the plenary before its transmittal to the Senate, with only Associate Justice Marvic Leonen insisting that the Lower House did not approve it, contrary to the report of ABS-CBN and other media outlets.
The trouble is that Supreme Court (SC) decisions, no matter how wrong, end up as part of the law of the land. Thus, the assailed Leonen “wow, mali” ponencia was concurred in by 13 SC justices. This decision, which ruled that the complaint was unconstitutional, abides by the principle of “my colleague, right or wrong.”
The impeachment of Duterte Jr. came first, and the issue has not been resolved forthwith, and the SC, despite its haste in ruling for Sara, has taken an eternity to resolve the petition for review of its assailed ruling. It is understandable for Leonen to take a dark view of impeachment, himself having been subjected to the same process and other woes at his law school, but as ponente, he should have recused himself from writing the decision out of propriety. In the event the SC sustains its decision, which it might not do until February 2026, another impeachment complaint will be filed and the Lower House would again vote to submit the same for trial before the Senate,
As it is, the Sara impeachment is an outstanding issue that has to be resolved as it concerns squarely a case of squandermania, worsened by dromomania, when her obsession with travel had seriously affected her role as a cabinet member and as a national leader who should be working 24/7 and not flying to Europe to watch a Taylor Swift concert when floodwaters swirl in Metro Manila and other areas and destroy homes, kill citizens and ruin livelihoods. She possesses the sterling quality of an entitled potentate, an empress dowager of sorts, who had admitted she hates crowds, including those paid to “adore her.” This should be understood by those runts who man Sarah’s keyboard army. You are only as good as your last post.
With the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (POGOs) now deemed illegal, Sara’s operatives would now have to scrounge for new sources of cash to sustain their drive to pursue the Sara mythomania, even if their principal has not produced anything worthy of admiration. In Davao City, she assaulted a clerk of court for implementing a court decision from the sala of a relative of her own husband. The city government also had an unbelievably huge 11,000 irregular employees paid using sums from a huge confidential and intelligence fund (CIF.) Pampered with city-based CIF that had never been questioned by local politicians, it is not strange for Sara to demand her found of flesh at the Office of the Vice President (OVP.) Despite demonizing Congress, Sara gets to enjoy P889-million for her office next year, a sum that would surely be inadequate for the Duterte squandermania and dromomania.
Why are they howling that Sara was slapped with plunder and graft charges before the Office of the Ombudsman? All because she was ham-fisted that she failed to make the cut as a professional grafter, leaving behind documentary evidence, signatures and a mountain of testimony to prove that she paid cash to imaginary informants, disbursed billions of pesos for programs, activities and projects at the Department of Education (DepEd) that the Commission on Audit (COA) disallowed, spending scores of millions for “youth summits” that local government units (LGUs) and the Philippine Army (PA) had subsidized, squandering P112.5 million in what she purported to be her CIF in the final 11 days of 2022, when the OVP budget inherited from Vice President Leni Robredo did not contain a single centavo for CIF.
Worse, she will now be answerable for the P235-million cadged from former Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin since it came from the Contingent Fund (CF) of the Palace. This is a point that many people have ignored or failed to appreciate. Even if the CF is, by its definition, for contingencies, those who disbursed it have to explain where the money, complete with signed receipts and other documentary requirements. Bersamin himself earlier explained that those who have the CF to disburse do not have the carte blanche to vacuum the money and throw it where it pleases them.
