THE WALLS of impunity that long protected the powerful are beginning to crack.
Former president Rodrigo Duterte now faces charges before the International Criminal Court over the bloody drug war that claimed thousands of lives. Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa faces an arrest warrant linked to the same killings. Vice President Sara Duterte, meanwhile, has been impeached by an overwhelming 257 lawmakers over serious allegations of corruption, misuse of public funds, and betrayal of public trust.
For many ordinary Filipinos — especially the poor who struggle daily to survive — this moment raises a difficult but necessary question:
Kon ordinaryo ka nga tawo, ano kadasig ang pagdakop, pagpreso, kag paglitis sa imo? Apang kon isa ka gamhanan nga politiko, ngaa daw lain ang pagpatuman sang hustisya?
When a hungry father steals food because his children have nothing to eat, he can be arrested immediately. When a vendor, worker, or ordinary person faces accusations, punishment comes swiftly. But when powerful officials are accused of corruption, killings, or abuse of power, cases drag on, accountability stalls, and legal protections suddenly multiply.
This is not about political color. This is not about being pro-Duterte or anti-Duterte. This is about whether justice should apply equally to everyone.
Many Filipinos supported Rodrigo Duterte because they were tired of crime, corruption, drugs, and the failures of traditional politics. That frustration was real. The longing for safety and change was real. But no poor family benefits when killings happen without due process, when innocent lives are caught in violence, or when public funds meant for schools, hospitals, jobs, and social services are lost to corruption.
And the painful truth is this: the culture of impunity did not end with the drug war.
Many poor communities already know what impunity looks like. Families lost loved ones without investigation or justice. Workers fighting for decent wages, farmers defending their land and livelihood, transport drivers struggling to survive, activists, journalists, indigenous peoples, and ordinary citizens critical of government policies have faced harassment, red-tagging, arrests, and violence.
When those in power are allowed to act without accountability, it is not only critics who suffer. In the end, even ordinary supporters are left vulnerable before the same system they once hoped would protect them.
The impeachment of Sara Duterte must proceed without delay. The Senate must not become a sanctuary for political allies nor a shield against accountability. Ronald dela Rosa must face the legal process now demanded of him — a process denied to thousands of victims of the drug war, many of whom were poor and defenseless.
Justice loses meaning when it exists only for the poor and powerless.
The Filipino people must ask: If thousands of poor Filipinos were forced to face bullets, prison, humiliation, and death without mercy, why should powerful officials now be spared accountability?
Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) Panay calls for the immediate convening of the impeachment court and the swift pursuit of all lawful accountability mechanisms against Sara Duterte, Ronald Dela Rosa, and all those implicated in corruption and extrajudicial killings.
e call on workers, farmers, fisherfolk, vendors, jeepney drivers, urban poor communities, youth, professionals, and all freedom-loving Filipinos to reject double standards and stand for genuine justice. Democracy survives only when the powerful are made answerable to the people.
No more special treatment. No more excuses. No more impunity. — BAGONG ALYANSANG MAKABAYAN (BAYAN) PANAY, Iloilo City <bayanpanay2014@gmail.com>
