In the past few days, the Filipino workers and people have witnessed numerous antics from Vice President Sara Duterte and former President Rodrigo Duterte. Sara threatened to kill President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, Rodrigo called on the military to oust the chief executive, and their supporters massed up along Edsa, a place known for protests that have removed presidents in the past.

The immediate trigger for the Dutertes’ actions are clear. Congress and Senate are holding a joint inquiry on how Sara spent P125 million in Office of the Vice President confidential funds in just 11 days in December 2022, P375 million of the same confidential funds in 2023, and P112.5 million of the Department of Education’s confidential funds in 2023.

The Dutertes’ antics show their resistance to, and abhorrence of, being held accountable for their actions as elected officials. This attitude goes hand-in-hand with the older Duterte’s wanton violation of labor and human rights when he was president. The Dutertes thought they won’t be held accountable for rights violations and they refuse to be held accountable for these. 

For six years, Duterte as president bombarded the public with his “kill, kill, kill” rhetoric, and thousands of suspected drug addicts and pushers, as well as hundreds of activists, became victims of extrajudicial killings. Hundreds more became victims of various grave human rights violations such as arrest and detention based on trumped-up charges, disappearance, and harassment and threats.

The call made by the Dutertes’ supporters to hold another Edsa uprising is a travesty of Edsa and the Filipino workers and people. The Edsa uprisings that ousted Ferdinand Marcos Sr in 1986 and Joseph Estrada in 2001 were grounded on a moral basis – fighting various levels of government repression and corruption. The Dutertes are themselves champions, not enemies, of the worst forms of government repression and corruption. 

The intensifying rift between the Dutertes and the Marcoses and the current president’s moves to investigate his predecessor’s family does not mean that the country’s courts are now functioning in holding the Dutertes accountable for rights violations. These should not mean that the International Criminal Court or ICC should not proceed with its investigation of Duterte’s crimes.

Marcos Jr has in fact called on Congress to not support impeachment moves against the vice president. We consider this deeply concerning and problematic, as the president is preventing a process for holding the young Duterte accountable. While this is a continuation of the Marcoses’ rejection of accountability mechanisms, it stands in stark contrast with the repression of labor and social activists under the current government.

Investigations into the use of confidential funds and other efforts to hold the Dutertes accountable should proceed. Such efforts should include the grave labor and human rights violations that were carried out by state forces under the older Duterte’s presidency. The government should not give in to the Dutertes’ antics.