Congress and the Senate are again engrossed in too much politics, opting to engage in confrontation instead of governance. The renewed move to impeach Vice President Sara Duterte is a manifestation of misplaced priority, which undermines democratic institutions instead of strengthening them.
The pressing issues that need the urgent attention of public servants in public offices, such as the rise in the prices of goods and services, the state of public services, and the implementation of long overdue reforms, are being ignored in favor of engaging in a political confrontation that, to say the least, has questionable timing and motive. The impeachment process, as a serious constitutional procedure, is not a political tactic to be deployed whenever the spirit of rivalry and competition dictates. The obvious haste in the impeachment process only confirms the suspicion that politics, and not the public interest, guides the proceedings.
The argument that the proceedings are transparent does not hold water when the basis for such proceedings appears to be discriminatory. If the real concern is the judicious use of confidential funds, then the same level of scrutiny and investigation must be applied to all officials who handle such funds, regardless of the magnitude and volume of the funds allocated to them. The obvious double standard in the impeachment process undermines the very purpose and credibility of the investigation.
The haste in the impeachment process also ignores the electoral mandate of millions of voters. The removal of a democratically elected official by the members of Congress and the Senate, instead of the verdict of the people in the electoral contest, makes the political fortunes of the official in question subject to the mercy of her political adversaries instead of the people. This, in essence, is the unwillingness to compete in an honest and transparent electoral contest.
There is a much more responsible and democratic approach to the issue. The members of Congress and the Senate must apply the same standards of accountability to all officials, including the officials who handle much larger confidential funds, and get back to the serious business of legislation. If the officials in question are not doing their job, then the electoral process is the legitimate and democratic way to deal with the issue.
