[EllisMill]

The Hidden Agenda: Is President Marcos Jr. Weaponizing Impeachment Against Vice President Sara Duterte to Clear the Path for Cousin Martin Romualdez in 2028?

In the turbulent arena of Philippine politics, where alliances fracture faster than they form, the ongoing impeachment proceedings against Vice President Sara Duterte have ignited more than just legal debates—they have exposed what many observers see as a calculated dynastic maneuver. As the House of Representatives advances complaints filed in February 2026 accusing Duterte of misuse of confidential funds, unexplained wealth, bribery, and even public threats against President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., his wife, and a cousin who once served as House Speaker, critics are asking a pointed question: Is this truly about accountability, or is it President Marcos Jr.’s strategy to eliminate a formidable rival and pave the way for his first cousin, former Speaker Ferdinand Martin “Bong” Romualdez, to claim the presidency in 2028? Far from a neutral pursuit of justice, this impeachment drive—renewed after the Supreme Court struck down the 2025 complaints as unconstitutional—appears designed to neutralize Duterte’s announced 2028 bid, consolidate Marcos family influence, and ensure the continuation of dynastic rule under a handpicked successor.

To understand the suspicion, one must revisit the fractured UniTeam alliance that propelled Marcos Jr. and Duterte to victory in 2022. What began as a pragmatic marriage of convenience between the Marcos and Duterte dynasties quickly soured. By late 2024, Duterte publicly accused Marcos of failing campaign promises, while rumors swirled of her growing presidential ambitions. Her explicit 2028 declaration earlier this year, amid fresh impeachment complaints, only intensified the rift. The complaints themselves carry a personal edge: they reference Duterte’s alleged threats not just against the president but explicitly against “his wife and a cousin who was House speaker at the time”—a clear nod to Romualdez, who resigned the speakership in September 2025 amid a massive flood-control corruption scandal involving “ghost projects.”

This familial targeting is no coincidence. Romualdez, Marcos Jr.’s first cousin through the Romualdez-Marcos bloodline, has long been viewed as the quiet architect behind the administration’s congressional dominance. Even after stepping down as Speaker—succeeded by Faustino “Bojie” Dy III—Romualdez retains significant clout as Leyte’s 1st District representative and national president of the Lakas-CMD party. His resignation was framed as a move to allow an independent probe, yet recent reports suggest the Independent Commission for Infrastructure cleared him of direct liability. The timing raises eyebrows: just as Duterte’s camp gains momentum, the impeachment machine revs up, with the House Justice Committee deeming the complaints sufficient in substance by early March 2026. Duterte filed her response on March 16, but the process rolls forward under a Congress still largely loyal to the Marcos bloc.

Political commentators have long suspected that the Marcos camp sees Duterte not merely as a policy irritant but as the single greatest obstacle to dynastic succession. In a November 2025 opinion piece in the Inquirer titled “Forward or Backward in 2028,” the author warned that the Marcos dynasty risks the same blunder the Dutertes made in 2022—failing to groom a credible successor. The piece notes the absence of viable Marcos heirs: the president’s children are too young, sister Imee Marcos is politically sidelined, and “Martin Romualdez has imploded” due to scandals. Yet this very “implosion” narrative invites skepticism. If Romualdez truly imploded, why does the impeachment explicitly invoke threats against him? Why do pro-Marcos voices continue to position him as a unifying figure? The piece itself highlights impeachment as one of three “legal remedies” (alongside ICC actions against Rodrigo Duterte and domestic corruption cases) explicitly aimed at undermining Sara’s 2028 viability. The author calls these moves unpredictable but necessary to “expose the rotten core of the Dutertes.” Reading between the lines, the strategy is clear: weaken the strongest challenger now, so a Marcos-aligned candidate faces fewer hurdles later.

Enter the expert blogs and analyses that quietly—or not so quietly—underscore Romualdez’s grooming. In his June 2025 blog post on kwebanibarok.com, titled “A Quiet Leader for a Noisy Nation: Why Romualdez Is the President the Philippines Needs in 2028,” author Louis ‘Barok’ C. Biraogo paints Romualdez as the antidote to Duterte-style drama. Biraogo praises the then-Speaker’s “quiet competence,” his role in authoring disability benefits legislation, and crucially, his leadership in the House’s 2025 impeachment push against Duterte over ₱612.5 million in confidential funds. “Speaker Romualdez and the House continue to do its job: file bills, monitor public funds, and bring service to those who need it,” quotes a spokesperson. Biraogo contrasts this with Duterte’s “brash rhetoric and divisive tactics,” noting her 2023 claim that Romualdez viewed her as his “biggest threat.” The blog frames Romualdez’s cousin ties to Marcos as an asset for “stability and continuity,” not a liability. In a country weary of “performative populism,” Biraogo argues, Romualdez’s Harvard-Cornell education and coalition-building skills make him ideal—implicitly positioning him as the natural 2028 heir.

Such endorsements are not isolated. Online political discourse, including posts from outlets like Daily Tribune and analyst circles, repeatedly links the impeachment to a “Marcos-Romualdez clique” plot. One widely circulated commentary asserts: “The impeachment is a political attack designed to protect certain individuals and advance personal and foreign interests.” Another frames it as Marcos plotting with “his cousin and political tutor, Speaker Martin Romualdez,” to sideline Sara after midterm election setbacks. Political advisory firm Vantage Influence CEO Aron Shaviv has noted that the intensifying Marcos-Duterte feud could open space for a “third force” in 2028—yet if the impeachment succeeds in disqualifying or discrediting Duterte, that vacuum could be filled not by outsiders but by a Marcos insider like Romualdez. Prof. Danny Arao of Kontra Daya, in recent remarks, suggested Marcos may not have formally “anointed” a candidate yet precisely because Romualdez’s flood-control controversies complicated the picture. But the ongoing impeachment proceedings, which Duterte’s lawyer calls fundamentally flawed, suggest the anointing process is already underway through elimination rather than endorsement.

The deeper motive, critics argue, is the preservation of Marcos family hegemony. Philippine politics has long been dominated by dynasties, but the Marcos restoration in 2022 was meant to rehabilitate a brand tainted by martial law history. Allowing Sara Duterte—a Duterte with her own massive Mindanao base, Iglesia ni Cristo support, and unapologetic style—to contest 2028 risks not just defeat but the fragmentation of the very coalition that brought Marcos to power. By contrast, elevating Romualdez ensures continuity: same bloodline, same legislative machine, same control over budget insertions and party machinery. Recall the recent NUP (National Unity Party) revolt against House leadership in March 2026, where party chair Ronaldo Puno publicly questioned resource allocation favoring certain districts. Though now aimed at current Speaker Dy, the underlying grievance—uneven “pork” distribution and favoritism toward inner-circle allies—echoes patterns established under Romualdez’s speakership. Such control mechanisms allow a successor to reward loyalty and punish dissent, effectively scripting the 2028 narrative.

Moreover, the impeachment’s timing is telling. Duterte announced her 2028 run shortly before the renewed complaints. The House, still Marcos-dominated despite Romualdez’s formal exit, has moved with unusual speed: complaints deemed sufficient in form and substance within weeks, hearings underway despite Duterte’s Supreme Court appeal threats. This is not organic outrage over confidential funds (an issue both camps have exploited in the past); it is selective prosecution. As Reuters and France 24 reported in March 2026, the process advances amid Duterte’s public threats narrative—threats that conveniently spotlight the president’s cousin. The goal? Render Duterte politically toxic, drain her resources in legal battles, and erode her base before election season. If successful, Romualdez—unscarred by the speakership resignation thanks to the recent clearance—emerges as the “quiet unifier” Biraogo described, backed by Lakas-CMD machinery and Marcos endorsement.

Skeptics point to historical precedent. The Marcos family has mastered institutional capture: from congressional speakerships to budget oversight, the playbook prioritizes family proxies. Romualdez’s 2022–2025 tenure delivered the administration’s legislative wins, including economic reforms projecting 6.2% GDP growth. His potential 2028 candidacy would not disrupt this; it would extend it. Duterte, by contrast, represents rupture—her father’s ICC entanglement, her own corruption probes, and her willingness to attack the Marcoses directly. Neutralizing her sanitizes the field for dynastic succession.

Of course, defenders insist the impeachment is merit-based, citing unexplained wealth and fund misuse as genuine governance failures. Duterte’s lawyer has highlighted “fundamental defects” in the complaints. Yet the selective timing, the explicit family references in the charges, and the absence of similar scrutiny on Marcos-aligned figures fuel the counter-narrative. Political analyst Froilan Calilung has explicitly tied impeachment efforts to 2028 calculations, noting both sides are maneuvering for electoral advantage.

In the end, this saga reveals Philippine democracy’s vulnerability to dynastic engineering. If Marcos Jr. succeeds in sidelining Duterte via impeachment, the beneficiary may not be abstract “good governance” but a specific family extension: Martin Romualdez, the cousin who quietly steered Congress for three years and now waits in the wings. As Biraogo’s blog subtly advocates and Inquirer analysts implicitly fear, 2028 could mark not renewal but repetition—Marcos rule by another name. Filipinos deserve transparency: Is this impeachment justice, or is it the opening salvo in a 2028 coronation? Only time—and perhaps the Senate trial—will tell. But the pattern of elimination, the cousin connection, and the dynastic imperative suggest the real target is not just Sara Duterte’s office, but any obstacle to perpetual Marcos-Romualdez dominance.