by Diego Morra
It came to pass. On Sept. 23, 2026, against the howls of the Duterte allies at the Senate and the shrill voices of Sara Zimmerman Duterte Carpio’s defense lawyers, the Senate, acting as an impeachment court, decided to change the threshold for the conviction of Sara from the 16 votes down to two-thirds (2/3) of the participating senators, which, in the current situation, is 20, with Sens. Rodante Marcoleta and Jinggoy Estrada under arrest on plunder and graft charges, Sen. Ronald de la Rosa on the lam for evading an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) as co-accused in the crimes against humanity case lodged against detained ex-president Rodrigo Duterte, and Sen. Loren Legarda in France after having her extended medical leave getting what appears to be an indefinite extension.
The Cayetano brother-and-sister act tried to throw a monkey wrench at the voting, which was held as scheduled, and despite the furious attempt of Alan and Pia to muster legal arguments to support the original 16-vote threshold that the court’s three amici curiae — former Supreme Court (SC) Chief Justices Reynato Puno, Hilario Davide and Artemio Panganiban— argued was not set in stone. Only former SC Associate Justice Adolf Azcuna argued for the retention of the 16-vote threshold for conviction. As the senators who had promptly attended all trial sessions argued, all issues had been joined and it became mandatory for the chamber to abide by its schedule rather than provide the uncooperative Sara Zimmerman Duterte Carpio some slack.
The decision is for the Senate to make since impeachment is sui generis and the chamber must decide on its own rather than wait for the SC to rule on the matter. Naturally, the Cayetanos, like the Dutertes, would again run to the SC to seek a restraining order but the SC is not wont to grant any relief on the basis of interdepartmental courtesy since the impeachment process is exclusive to the Senate. Given her fury against the courts, the police and even her own bodyguards, and her nagging fear that millions of people are plotting to kill her, aside from venting her spleen on the Marcoses and entire justice system, it would be strange for the High Tribunal to grant her delaying tactic the utmost consideration.
It is indeed just too weird for Sara to condemn the judicial system and yet demand its protection. She demanded a bloodbath and the bloodbath has happened 29 days with a stream of witnesses drawing their swords and wounding Sara with their testimonies. This is lingzhi or deaths by a thousand cuts yet Sara refuses to appear before the Senate, scared to death about the very bloodbath she surely deserved. The 13-1-6 vote (13 for changing the threshold, one against the six who boycotted the process) is as clear as daylight, with the majority opting to change the threshold and the six abandoning the fight. The vote also indicated the pleasure of the chamber and the drift toward conviction despite the millions of pesos spent to influence the Senate and the people at large.
Truth to tell, Sara suffers from an incurable, debilitating disease that compels her to believe she is destined to become the President of the Philippines and all cases lodged against her, from grave threats to plunder to the four Articles of Impeachment, are part of a conspiracy to prevent a divine design from being consummated. Reminds us of a conversation that the detained Apollo Quiboloy had with Baptist ministers in South Korea. Quiboloy told them that God talks to him (before he created the title appointed son of god), whereupon the pastors said that it is fine if you talk with your creator but you need a shrink when you claim that God talks to you.
What happened to Sara on Sept. 23 is that she found herself stumbling as rug was pulled from under her feet. The defense bungled their examination of a top official of the Security and Exchange Commission (DEC) who tagged Sara’s non-divestment in 17 corporations within 60 days after taking over the Office of the Vice President (OVP) was illegal per se. Another official of the PhilGEPS confirmed the contracts cut by the Davao City government and GenCorp Industries, a company in which Sara was a shareholder and director even as she moonlighted as vice president of the republic. Extending her fiefdom to Luzon, Sara also was an incorporator of a security and investigative agency organized in Manila.
Far from being a small-scale operation GenCorp Industries had revenues in excess of P1-billion in just a few years. Inserting himself into the issue, Baste Duterte clarified that GenCorp amassed more than P33-million from its 19 contracts with city hall. That is self-dealing no matter how you cut it. Yet, Sara might have been moved by Ambrose Bierce, the American satirist who famously said that a corporation “is an ingenious device for obtaining individual profit with no individual responsibility.” Especially if GenCorp is being run by your surrogate, nominee, front or dummy. These multiple roles are now suspected to be played by Jaime T. Cruz of JTC Corp., a trusted ally of Rodrigo Duterte and a business partner of Sara Zimmeman Duterte Carpio. JTC Corp. and GenCorp.
These business entities, along with other corporations established by Sara and her husband, Atty. Manases Carpio, must be very busy cornering Jollibee and Chowking franchises in Davao City, perhaps along with doughnut shops, convenience stores and entertainment joints. However, even with the huge revenues of GenCorp., Sara never got any dividend from its operations, and thus could not have contributed tremendous wealth of Sara. It could not be the source of the P6.7-billion that were deposited in the bank accounts of Sara, her joint accounts with the father and the other joint accounts with her brothers. The law is clear: If the money is not commensurate with the salaries amassed through the years in government, then it is ill-gotten wealth, and Sara is compelled to explain the discrepancies. But then, Sara fears her own bloodbath and would never sit at the dock.#
