The successive and interconnected events of this past week mark a new level of intensification of the conflict between the rival factions of the ruling class of bureaucratic capitalists: the impeachment of the Lower House against Vice President Sara Duterte and the start of the Senate trial, the coup in the Senate accompanied by the appearance of Sen. Bato dela Rosa, and his subsequent disappearance to evade the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Politicians performed acrobatics like clowns in a circus as they maneuvered, counter-maneuvered, and clashed with one another. Sen. dela Rosa suddenly surfaced after six months in hiding to form a new majority and install a new Senate leadership. But faced with the threat of arrest and transfer to The Hague after the ICC’s warrant against him became public, he swiftly went again into hiding.

The change in the Senate leadership is seen as part of a plan to derail Sara Duterte’s trial. The vice president was impeached for the misuse of ₱500 million in “confidential funds,” for the unexplained growth of her personal wealth, and other charges. A large majority (257 votes) in the Lower House favored the impeachment, the second in just over a year. Unlike during the first, the Senate quickly convened itself as an impeachment court that will try Duterte, though it remains unclear where this will actually lead to.

This chapter of the struggle between rival factions is bound to continue in the coming weeks, and will further intensify and erupt again with the approach of the 2028 elections. The Marcos camp and various parties are pushing hard to remove Sara Duterte from office to block her presidential bid.

The conflict between Marcos and Duterte reflects the intense, and at times, violent struggle between rival factions of the ruling classes—bureaucrat-capitalists racing to enrich themselves through power. This conflict is heating up amid the economic downslide of the semicolonial and semifeudal system.

The spoils of power that bureaucrat-capitalists could once partake of amicably are shrinking, driving their greed for wealth and power into open contest and clash. Once in power, they compete over how fast and how big they could plunder from the people’s money, while vying to appear clean before the public. Corruption and plunder by the bureaucrat-capitalists grow more brazen and massive.

While bureaucrat-capitalists wallow in wealth and fight over power, the broad masses sink deeper into poverty and toil daily to survive. The people’s burden has grown heavier in the past two months with the continuous rise in the prices of food and basic needs, and cost of basic services. This followed the US war on Iran that profit-hungry oil companies took advantage of to spike the prices of diesel, gasoline and other petroleum product (50–100% higher compared to some Southeast Asian countries). Prices are expected to keep rising in the coming months.

Hunger and desperation fuels the people’s anger against the US-Marcos regime and the bureaucrat-capitalists who not only have done nothing to ease their suffering, but have also worsened their burden. After colluding with oil companies to deepen the people’s hardship, the Marcos regime turn people into mendicants by making them line up for meager aid and rice distributions that last only a few days.

The Filipino people’s contempt for the US-Marcos regime and the ruling classes deepen in the face of impunity by corrupt officials who pocketed billions in ghost and botched flood control projects exposed since last year, among other major government scandals. While trampling on the rights and welfare of the Filipino people, Marcos obediently follows the dictates of his US imperialist master, in the plan to open a 1,620-hectare “economic security zone” in Pampanga and Tarlac for exclusive use by American companies.

They are outraged further with the unleashing of violence by the Marcos regime against people rising up and fighting for their rights. This is linked to their search for justice for thousands of victims of both the drug war and the political repression against mass organizations.

Faced with the economic crisis, there is growing peoples’ clamor for living wages, decent jobs and job security, land reform, lower prices of goods and oil price rollbacks, housing rights, and other urgent democratic demands.

“Hold Marcos accountable, prosecute Duterte” remains the people’s continuing clamor. Linked to this is the demand to proceed with the trial of Sara Duterte to hold her accountable for her crimes. The clamor also demands the arrest and trial at the ICC of Bato dela Rosa and other co-perpetrators of Rodrigo Duterte in the bloody drug war. They likewise demand accountability of Marcos and his officials for the billions pocketed in flood control projects and other major corruption.

The people are deeply dismayed by the brazen indulgence of some in the rotten government while the broad masses’ suffering worsen. Though bureaucrat-capitalists compete with one another, they are united in perpetuating the oppressive system that cause people’s sufferings.

The people persevere in holding bureaucrat-capitalists and fascists to account for their crimes and for inflicting grave suffering on the masses. We must make clear to the people that genuine justice cannot be attained under the ruling reactionary state which, from the start, has been a haven of fascists and plunderers of the people’s money.

It is a major challenge for national-democratic forces to carry out painstaking mass work to raise the people’s consciousness and understanding of the historical and social roots of corruption in the country. Waste no time and spare no effort to do propaganda work among the masses, build their organizations, and strengthen clandestine work. Amplify the call to put an end to bureaucrat-capitalism, imperialism and feudalism, and to advance national democratic change.