Misleading, detached from reality.
That's how House quad-committee (quad-comm) chairman and Surigao del Norte 2nd district Rep. Robert Ace Barbers described Navotas City lone district Rep. Toby Tiangco's assertion that solons' impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte doomed the administration Senate bets' chances in Mindanao.
"[It's] misleading and detached from the real sentiment of Mindanaoan voters," Barbers, who hails from the region, said in a statement Saturday morning, May 17.
He said the results of the May 12 mid-term elections "speak for themselves".
"Thirty-six out of 44 Mindanao lawmakers who signed the impeachment complaint were reelected. That’s a clear 81.81 percent win rate. If the impeachment was such a political liability, we would’ve been wiped out in our own districts. But we were not—we were overwhelmingly returned to office,” said Barbers.
Tiangco, the campaign manager of the administration-backed Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas senatorial ticket, wasn't mentioned in Barbers' statement. But he was the first one to make the assertion that Duterte's impeachment hurt Alyansa.
A total of 215 House members signed Vice President Duterte's impeachment complaint last Feb. 5. Hailing from Davao City, her home turf is Mindanao.
Barbers, who was among the House members who supported the impeachment move, said the people of Mindanao “rewarded courage, not cowardice,” and refused to be manipulated by scare tactics or loyalty-driven narratives.
“Let’s be honest—voters are smarter than we give them credit for. They did not vote based on who defended or attacked a Duterte. They voted for local leaders who delivered, who stood their ground, and who worked with integrity,” he added.
Barbers named several reelected colleagues who also backed the impeachment, including Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong and Rep. Yasser Balindong of Lanao del Sur, Rep. Romeo Momo of Surigao del Sur, Rep. Dimszar Sali of Tawi-Tawi, Rep. Roberto ‘Pinpin’ Uy Jr. of Zamboanga del Norte, Rep. Samantha Santos of Cotabato, and Rep. Keith Flores and Jose Manuel Alba of Bukidnon.
He said the “blame game” now being waged by some quarters trying to pin Alyansa’s Senate losses on the impeachment complaint was both unfair and inaccurate.
“Senate campaigns are won with message, machinery, and momentum—not by shielding sacred cows from scrutiny. If some candidates underperformed, it was because we didn’t connect enough at the national level, not because we fought for truth and transparency,” Barbers said.
He emphasized that the results in Mindanao showed that voters made a distinction between local and national races, and did not conflate impeachment with betrayal.
“The fact that my wife Bernadette and so many of my colleagues were reelected proves that Mindanaoans know the difference between political vendetta and constitutional accountability,” noted the three-term congressman.
“They backed us because we had the spine to uphold the rule of law, even if it meant taking on powerful names. That is not political suicide—that is leadership,” he said.