vice president sara duterte

IN ACKNOWLEDGING the decision of the Senate to archive the impeachment case against her, Vice President Sara Duterte said, “The public must respect the role of the legislative body.” She added, though, that she had hoped for a “full trial to present her evidence to the public.”

But how come she filed a petition with the Supreme Court seeking to stop her trial on the grounds that the House of Representatives violated the one-year bar on filing of any additional impeachment case? Also. In her petition, the VP told the Supreme Court that due process was not observed by the members of the Lower House.

Apparently convinced of the argument of the VP, the Highest Court granted the petition on a unanimous ruling. The House, of course, believes that it has not violated the Constitutional process of impeaching the Vice President. Thus, a Motion for Reconsideration was filed.

The Senate, with a majority appearing to be overeager in quashing the impeachment against the VP, attempted to move for the outright dismissal of the case. Had it not been for a non-lawyer but top television comedian, Sen. Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, the dismissal would have sailed smoothly. But his argument that “what if the Supreme Court reverses its ruling, what is going to happen to the impeachment case against VP Sara?”.

While the blabbermouth proponent of the Motion to Dismiss, Sen. Rodante Marcoleta, seemed to be caught off-guard, he tried to cushion his unexpected thud by saying that it is unlikely that the SC reverses a unanimous decision by its magistrates.

Finally, the Senators settled to change the Motion to Dismiss into a retrievable Motion to Archive.

The VP was quick to extend her acknowledgement. For many, it was more than enough to show that she was happy. Most Senators believe that with the Supreme Court ruling, the impeachment case transmitted by the House was effectively extinguished. Only the House’s Motion for Reconsideration is the one thing that makes some semblance of a remaining possibility of a trial by the Senate.

But then VP Sara added, saying that she had hoped for a “full trial” of her impeachment case. With such a statement, we could not blame if there are those who will suspect the VP of doing a “double talk.” Or that her actions contradict her words.

In short, some people may be forced to read between the lines of what she says, or attempt to hear messages from her unsaid statements.

Remember the “blood bath” warning during the impeachment trial; the “kill the President, the first lady, the Speaker of the House” statement capped with “no joke, no joke?” The former was provided with her explanation, while the latter statement was denied, although it was said in a televised interview.

We do not know if the VP is aware that, done too often, the scheme could erode the credibility she appears to be enjoying for now.  

We hope she realizes this before it gets late.

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So the Davao Region is only seventh among the 18 regions in the country with the fastest population growth rates? This is according to the result of the 2024 population census conducted by the National Statistics Office (NSO).

The total population of the Region as of July 1, 2024, was 5,389,322. The figure is 145,886 more than the region’s population of 5,243,536 on May 1, 2020. 

The good thing here is that with the slow growth rate in the region, it can only mean that the men and women working in government agencies with responsibilities of harmonizing population growth rate with that of the pace of the country’s (or region’s, for that matter) development are working as expected of them.

Say, the Department of Health and the Commission on Population (POPCOM), the men and women who are tasked to implement the government’s population and development program, could be at their best in discharging their duties.

The question worth asking, though, is, will the Region’s slower population growth rate be beneficial to Southern Mindanao? Will it not stagnate the desired socio-economic development, considering that the more people there are, the number of goods and consumers also increases?

And considering that the bigger factor in the increase in population is migration of people in search of job opportunities in an area – Davao Region, for that matter – does the decrease in the region’s population growth rate mean job seekers, or even those pursuing education, see better opportunities or services in other areas outside of Southern Mindanao?

We can only hope it is not that.