Détente

An impeachment complaint was filed against Vice President Sara Duterte at the House of Representatives last Monday.

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The complainants listed down a litany of sins in the Articles of Impeachment formally submitted to the office of the secretary-general of the House of Representatives.

Aside from acts she did as the second highest elected leader at the Office of the Vice President (OVP), they also accused her of offenses she allegedly committed while she was concurrently the secretary of the Department of Education (DepEd) until July this year.

The impeachment case against VP Sara finally came, notwithstanding supposed "guidance" coming from no less than President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. (PBBM). In a message supposedly sent through SMS (short message service) to key leaders of the 19th Congress last week, PBBM confirmed that indeed he had given such guidance.

The SMS read: "In the larger scheme of things, Sara is unimportant. So please do not file impeachment complaints. It will only distract us from the real work of governance which is to improve the lot of all Filipinos."

Apparently, PBBM's SMS was shared wittingly or perhaps unwittingly by the recipient because it went viral on social media last Friday.

If the President's SMS was sent through a group chat, everyone would be a suspect in sharing PBBM's private message. Or this was really intended to come out? In fact, the Chief Executive expressed surprise his SMS became public knowledge. PBBM appeared to have been forced to admit it. Or it is too obviously contrived? If not contrived, isn't this a violation of the President's privacy? Worse, a breach of national security involving the President's official communications and messages in whatever format or platform.