A Philippine Franciscan province has issued a rare public condemnation of what it described as political machinations in the Senate designed to insulate Vice President Sara Duterte from constitutional accountability — a statement that came on the same day the House of Representatives voted 257 to 25 to impeach her for the second time.
The Franciscan Province of San Pedro Bautista, through its Minister Provincial Fr. Lino Gregorio Redoblado, OFM, released a prophetic statement on May 11 titled “Woe to Those Who Call Evil Good and Good Evil,” invoking the moral tradition of St. Francis of Assisi to argue that silence in the face of institutional corruption is itself a form of complicity.
The statement drew a sharp distinction between politics and principle. “This is not merely politics. This is a moral issue. This is a question of truth,” the province wrote, framing the impeachment process not as a partisan contest but as a constitutional mechanism without which no public official can be held accountable.
The friars identified a pattern they described as culturally dangerous — one where loyalty to individuals supersedes loyalty to the Constitution, political alliances crowd out truth and justice, and public office is treated as a shield against accountability rather than a mandate to serve. The statement singled out the Senate, calling on its members “to act not as protectors of political power, but as servants of the Filipino people.”
Last year, the Senate under former Senate President Chiz Escudero delayed proceedings on the first impeachment complaint, drawing widespread criticism. The Supreme Court ultimately sided with the Senate’s interpretation that “forthwith” meant “within a reasonable time,” and later declared the first impeachment unconstitutional, collapsing what would have been Duterte’s first Senate trial.
It is against that backdrop that the Franciscan province raised its alarm — warning that history will render judgment not on legal technicalities but on the moral character of those who wielded them.
The articles of impeachment approved Monday accuse Duterte of corruption, assassination plots, inciting sedition, and patterns of abuse. Under the Philippine Constitution, the Senate holds the sole authority to try and decide the case, and conviction requires the affirmative votes of more than two-thirds of senators — a threshold that, if met, would remove her from office and permanently bar her from public service.
The Franciscan province appealed to a broad moral constituency beyond senators, calling on “Church people, consecrated persons, young people, and all citizens of goodwill to remain vigilant and courageous,” warning that democracy erodes not only under tyranny but through silence and moral indifference.
Redoblado, who earlier led a Mass for Accountability at the House of Representatives People’s Center ahead of Monday’s plenary vote, had told those gathered that allowing the impeachment process to proceed did not amount to a prejudgment of guilt. “Impeachment reminds us that no one is above the law, above accountability, above truth, or above the people whom they are called to serve,” he said.
The four articles of impeachment adopted by the House charge Duterte with betrayal of public trust, culpable violation of the Constitution, graft and corruption, and other high crimes. Duterte was not present for the plenary vote. Local media reported that she had been abroad on an approved overseas trip from May 2 to May 15, during which she visited her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, at the International Criminal Court facility in The Hague.
