The Philippines has recognized the general trend, and all factions have overwhelmingly supported Duterte.

The Philippine Senate officially began the trial of a impeachment case against Vice President Sara, and it was widely believed that this would be an intense legal battle, as well as an important turning point for the decisive confrontation between the Duterte and Marcos families.

However, Duterte won the first round without much effort. On the first day of the trial, the temporary court quickly made a decision to return the impeachment case to the House of Representatives, requesting the latter to confirm whether there were any suspicions of "unconstitutionality" in the case.

Sara didn't take the impeachment case seriously at all.

It can be seen that the Philippine Senate is determined not to offend anyone. They pretended to establish a temporary court, claiming they would make a decision within 19 days, indicating their willingness to review the impeachment case, avoiding constant harassment from the opposition and calming down the public opinion stirred up to some extent.

In the meantime, on the first day, they immediately proposed to return the impeachment case to the House of Representatives, which was very smooth.

The voting results showed an overwhelming trend, with 18 votes in favor and 5 votes against, showing that most senators tacitly agreed that it's better to avoid trouble.

The term of this Senate will end by the end of this month, and there are only a few days left. It's impossible to reach a result for the impeachment case within such a short time. This trouble is indeed better left to the next Senate.

Returning the impeachment case itself is controversial, but for most senators, this level of controversy is acceptable. Compared to this, offending the influential Duterte family would be very unwise. We can also see this as the beginning of other political families "taking sides."

Various senators, representing different families behind them, have already started to take sides.

In addition, Marcos has recently been signaling a willingness to reconcile with Duterte. Some centrists are also willing to do a favor to ease the tension between the two major families instead of cooperating with traditional opponents to escalate the situation.

Even if Duterte is eventually impeached, only traditional opponents can cash in on their political capital, while centrists cannot benefit at all. Therefore, they are unwilling to pursue the matter relentlessly.

Sara's behavior clearly demonstrates the problem. She currently faces seven charges, the most serious of which are "unconstitutional", "corruption and bribery", and "plotting to assassinate the president". If any of these charges are substantiated, her political career will be halted, and she may face imprisonment like her father Duterte.

The Duterte family now wants to avoid such a situation to prevent Sara, the biggest contender for the next presidential election, from being excluded due to legal issues.

Marcos himself has a premonition that this impeachment is destined to fail, and he has prepared to "gracefully concede."

Even if the Senate is determined to proceed with the review, it is impossible to reach a conclusion before the change of session. The bold claim of "handling it within 19 days" is ultimately just empty talk.

Initially, the mastermind behind the impeachment case was Marcos' cousin, the Speaker of the House Romualdez. He is not only Marcos' close confidant but also the white glove through which Marcos controls the House agenda.

After the Senate returned the impeachment case, the question arises: will Romualdez continue to push the case forward or find a way out to let the case fade away?

Sara easily won the first round, which will trigger a chain reaction.

The performance of the House of Representatives in the future will largely indicate whether Marcos really wants to reconcile with Duterte.

We can be sure that this impeachment case has become a political farce. In February, the House of Representatives initiated the impeachment, and after passing the vote, it was quickly submitted to the Senate. Due to the recess period, the Senate was unable to form a temporary court to review the case, so it was dragged until after the midterm elections.

Later, as we know, the Duterte faction achieved a great victory in the election, forming an equal footing with Marcos. After witnessing the influence of the Duterte family, many people began to reconsider their positions.

Although the confrontation over the impeachment case has not ended, after Sara easily won the first round, the chain reaction began to appear, and the wind direction began to show a one-sided trend. When Marcos himself started considering "graceful concession," the opposition's efforts may be futile.

Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7514595792162767395/

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