The real existential crisis

Recent surveys confirm what we already sensed: 88% of Filipinos expect accountability from public officials. An overwhelming majority believe our leaders must focus on effective governance. These are not partisan demands. They are fundamental expectations in any functioning democracy. When those expectations are unmet, democracy doesn’t explode. It quietly implodes.

- DIWA C. GUINIGUNDO

In November 2024, we cited in our column Francis Fukuyama’s enduring insight: democracy doesn’t often fall with a dramatic crash, but erodes slowly through complacency, compromised institutions, and the quiet retreat of accountability.

That erosion of checks, of balances, and of public faith is no longer theoretical. In the Philippines today, it is playing out on two critical fronts. The first is domestic: a subtle normalization of impunity in governance, where accountability faces a bloating of obstacles. The second is external: the enduring challenge of defending our sovereignty against persistent incursions in the West Philippine Sea.

These twin crises, the enemy within and the enemy without, reflect a deeper struggle over justice, institutional integrity, and national dignity.

Few issues in recent memory have tested the architecture of public accountability more visibly than the impeachment of Vice-President Sara Duterte. The move by the House of Representatives to adopt and transmit six articles of impeachment was both extraordinary and historic. With a resounding majority, including votes from the Vice-President’s own political base in Mindanao, the lower chamber appeared to assert a clear principle: that no official, no matter how powerful, should be beyond scrutiny.

The allegations were serious: alleged misuse of confidential funds, unexplained wealth, bribery, even incitement to sedition. And yet, they remained allegations, charges that demanded fair, impartial, and expeditious adjudication.

But the Senate, constitutionally mandated to act “forthwith” on impeachment, stalled. Deliberations dragged. Timetables shifted. Political signals grew mixed. Eventually, the issue reached the Supreme Court, which declared the impeachment complaint unconstitutional, citing the “one-year bar rule” — a legal provision meant to prevent successive, potentially harassing impeachment attempts within a single year.