ON MARCH 15, a congressman allied to Senator Antonio Trillanes filed an impeachment complaint against President Rodrigo Duterte at the House of Representatives for alleged betrayal of public trust and corruption.
In a brief conference, spokesman to the president Ernesto Abella said the president is prepared to face the consequences of his actions since he has neither violated the law nor betrayed the people's trust.
Though confident in backing up Duterte, Abella can't help but doubt the intention of the opposition filing an impeachment complaint, saying it could be just a part of a larger scheme of things. It certainly seems like an outline of the destabilization plot, he said.
To Filipinos, there are two questions. Why is it so easy to some to want to get rid of a leader with conviction to uplift the status of the country, so much so that the rage coming from his disgust of the ill and rotten activities in the land reflects on his words and sometimes on his actions too? And why is it so hard for most to try to let go of a leader who actually acts what he speaks and moves towards the goal of living in a better Philippines?
The questions represent the divided Filipinos, looking at opposite directions of Philippine politics.
Since the assumption of the new administration, the volume of crimes in the Philippines trickled down. In fact, it dropped by 31 percent in the first five months of President Rodrigo Duterte's presidency compared to the same period a year ago, authorities said.
The government's crackdown on illegal drugs and criminality has pulled down crime rates nationwide, the Philippine National Police reported.
The Duterte presidency meant a glimmer of hope to 86 percent of the Filipinos who trusted his performance. It meant assurance that even after working the night, they would reach home peacefully. Not anymore bearing any agonizing thought that somewhere in the dim-lit street in their city, a man with red droopy eyes standing at the back of the waiting shed with a pair of scissors on his hand and a back-up knife on the other would attack him and though someone would witness, no one will speak up because nothing happens anyway.
And then, there are a handful of people, with towering cash in their bank accounts who are saved from the dilemma of worrying about what to feed to their family when life gets thin, exhausting efforts to try to put down this president. They are mad on suspects killed during operations, saying due process should be practiced and that itself is a huge disrespect to Filipinos. What about the unexplainable luxury cars parked in their homes possibly amounting to millions? And we were told that House Representatives only earn an annual salary of P204,000? That's more than just disrespect. That's murder to more than one-fourth of the Philippine population who could have had the chance to prosper if only they were served by an honest government.
The Filipinos are divided into two mindsets. One aims for progress and the other awaits decay.