Opinion: Impeachment is Just Political Theater Now

Another impeachment is likely to unfold next month. Sadly, this constitutional mechanism is essentially now just political theater for partisan objectives. Thus, the next one will still not be a cleansing ritual. It will not trigger a reset of our politics and governance. What it will do—very effectively—is provide a platform for those already positioning themselves for 2028.

For some politicians, the impeachment process is a free stage to go strutting on their high horse. Expect speeches dripping with anti-corruption rhetoric, each more outraged than the last. While for others, it is an opportunity to claim victimhood—to recast themselves as targets of elite persecution and rally loyalists around concocted grievances. Both performances feed the same machine: attention, polarization, and early campaigning.

Strip away the drama and the question becomes uncomfortably simple. At the end of an impeachment trial—win or lose—will corruption be weaker? Will political dynasties be less entrenched? Will the incentives that reward plunder be dismantled? The honest answer is probably not.

ALSO READ:

Opinion: What 'Filipinos Deserve Better' Must Mean

Opinion: The SC Decision on VP Sara Duterte is a Cause for Alarm

It is proven, however, that impeachment intensifies factionalism. And our political system is built to make partisanship even worse. The presidential election is winner-take-all. There is no runoff, no institutional encouragement for coalition governance. The result is the bandwagon effect: politicians abandon principle for proximity to power. Once someone looks likely to win, loyalty rushes in, not because of ideology but because political survival demands it. Political tribalism at its ugliest.

This is why whoever ends up in office—regardless of campaign rhetoric—often governs with a plundering mentality. Power is seen as constantly under threat. The typical dynastic response, in a deeply cynical system, is to extract value quickly and defensively. Secure resources. Shore up alliances. Prepare for the inevitable counterattack.

Against this backdrop, impeachment is structurally incapable of delivering reform. It removes a person, not the system. Worse, impeachment can reinforce the illusion that accountability has been served, when imprisonment and restitution are not part of the outcome. The polity goes through the veritable wringer, yet deeper problems continue to fester untouched.

Indeed, if lawmakers were genuinely serious about addressing corruption, they should shift their attention away from spectacle and toward structure. They should focus their attention on the four reform bills that President Bongbong Marcos directed to be prioritized. They can also work on modernizing the budget process to tighten public financial management and rationalize how public funds are released and audited.

These reforms strike at the very architecture that makes large-scale corruption possible. The fact is a lot of our systemic problems can only be solved by legislation. In other words, only lawmakers can solve these problems. No one else can. Hopefully, voters internalize this truth and act accordingly in 2028. But for now, the public can demand lawmakers to do their job. And plead with them to refrain from transforming Congress into a zarzuela.

Filipinos must likewise bear in mind that corruption is a crime. Therefore, its perpetrators are criminals. This means they need to spend serious time behind bars. They must suffer the indignity of being in handcuffs and having their mugshots taken. Many politicians have gone through these very legal rituals before and have come out of it as free individuals. This farce must end now.

Hence, symbolic convictions are not enough. And no selective prosecutions that are designed just to appease public anger. All the main conspirators must be held to account: lawmakers who authorized the schemes, contractors who executed them, facilitators inside the bureaucracy who processed and protected them. Middlemen. Bagmen. Fixers. Even beneficiaries who knowingly profited from stolen public funds.

Asset recovery is equally non-negotiable. Justice that does not return stolen money to public coffers is incomplete. Without the billions of plundered public funds restored to the national treasury, prosecution becomes a mere moral triumph. Imprisonment and restitution are the expected outcomes.

This is why for Filipinos, it is the Office of the Ombudsman that should matter most now. But not as another arena for grandstanding, but as a site of surgical accountability. This constitutional office should now be akin to a hospital operating theater, whereby civil society is able to closely and methodically observe investigators and prosecutors perform their constitutional duties.

Transparency can help—but only if it is disciplined. Livestreamed proceedings, public access to pleadings, and disclosed timelines can deter interference and public fatigue. Journalists and other stakeholders must ensure that the cases are developed carefully, insulated from political pressure, and pursued with institutional patience. The dismissal of these cases for "insufficiency of evidence" must be avoided at all costs.

Therefore, watchdog groups must do the tedious work of monitoring cases, tracking delays, and calling out procedural sabotage. They must resist being folded into factional narratives. The standard should be blunt: does this action move us closer to convictions and recovery, or does it merely help someone's electoral prospects?

In this regard, legacy media must also do its part helping the public focus on the Office of the Ombudsman. Any issue or concern about corruption investigations and prosecutions should be directly fielded to Ombudsman Boying Remulla and his team. Politicos will try to get themselves inserted here just for headlines. The press should protect the information ecosystem from spoilers and attention-seekers by not giving them airtime.

In sum, impeachment may feel satisfying. It offers catharsis in a system that feels rigged. But catharsis by itself is not reform. It does not change incentives. It does not weaken dynasties. It does not prevent the next administration from playing the same game. Common sense dictates that this much abused option should be seriously reconsidered.

The real fight against corruption is quieter, slower, and far less cinematic. It happens in budget rules, procurement systems, courtrooms, and audit trails. It demands discipline, not drama. If we are serious about ending corruption, we should stop confusing noise with progress. Impeachment may expose the rot, but it does not cure it.

Imprisonment and restitution must remain the primary objectives when it comes to dealing with corruption, be it relating to pork barrel or the misappropriation of confidential funds. And it is the Office of the Ombudsman alone that can deliver to the people this much desired prize. Filipinos should be happy only when the corrupt are "weeping and wailing" and "gnashing their teeth" on their way to the New Bilibid Prison.

READ MORE:

Opinion: Political Dynasties are the Noose Around our Collective Necks

Is Sen. Kiko Pangilinan Right to Question Landbank's Approval of P500-Million Cash-Outs?