To meme or not to meme, that is the question. Or is it?

Since July 6, 2026, Vice-President Sarah Duterte has been on trial.

For three consecutive days each week since, the Senate of the Philippines has been convening as an impeachment court, with senators all wearing the same red furry robe as their OOTD.

But the vice-president is not the only one on trial—and no, I do not mean the senators, although much has been said about how, by virtue of their role as adjudicators in the impeachment, they are also on trial. Their votes, their line of questioning, their apparent or otherwise declared alliances all put them under the scrutiny of the Filipino voter.

More importantly, perhaps, for the past weeks since July 6, Filipinos have been standing on trial too, presenting themselves as prima facie evidence, witnesses, defendants, and the aggrieved all at the same time. Every day the impeachment trial progresses, Filipino netizens reveal the state of the nation when it comes to argumentation—and the picture painted is not very encouraging or endearing overall. You don’t have to look far to understand what I mean. Just look at how people comment during any live streaming of the impeachment trial, or check the memes and pictures shared by netizens related to this topic.

I categorize these online commentators into three types: The real, who usually offers an honest-to-goodness assessment of the situation; The surreal, who puts forward arguments based on what is apparent and may not necessarily be true-to-fact; And the meme, whose comments are designed to simply elicit a reaction, often by attacking persons or personalities, or simply by leaving an unexplained expletive. The latter kind of comment is what digital folks call ragebaiting.

Each of these commentators reveal bits about the Filipino netizen.

In this regard, a particular point netizens seem to frequently forget is this: Having an impeachment trial does not automatically mean that the public official being impeached is guilty. As far as the process is concerned, the vice-president is not considered to be at fault for anything just yet. It is up to the prosecution to prove her guilt, and to the defense to show otherwise by invalidating the articles of impeachment or by poking holes into the credibility of each.

But many seem unable to sit through an impeachment trial or an argument online without throwing the regular attacks on physical appearance and intelligence of persons involved. This is true, mind you, for both sides of the political divide, for those in support of the prosecution or those who are for the defense of the vice-president.

Instead of carefully weighing and considering the merits of the arguments of both the prosecution and the defense, and pitting these objectively against the each other, most Filipinos seem more eager to point out how many objections one side raised, or the side-comments of one particular lawyer, or the frothing in the mouth of a prosecutor (later also seen on a defense lawyer), or the outfits of the senator judges, or even how the senate president and the presiding officer are seated.

Sure, having these in memes does not necessarily mean that there are no Filipinos who are paying close attention. But those who do are drowned by the noise made by those who do not, and this noise is often what is carried as public opinion and, unfortunately, provides fuel or motivation to some of the personalities involved in the impeachment trials.

Granted, interest in the ongoing impeachment trials are waning, if Google Trends is to be believed. But in social media circles, the rage and ragebaiting go on. I myself am guilty of enjoying these comments sometimes, as they are often funny and are triggered by what some of the stellar cast of the impeachment trials do or say. I realize that I often have similar thoughts, although I mostly keep them to myself or share them offline with friends. Harmless fun, one might argue, especially since the impeachment trial seems to willingly lend itself to being fodder for humor.

But here is the more dangerous path this type of social media banter is paving: In defense of personalities, Filipinos seem to be ready to discard reason. In defense of their political idols, Filipino netizens seem all too willing to look silly or (to put it bluntly) stupid.

What this reveals is a people willing to put down its dignity to save, not the country, but personalities who it believes can save the country. That is sad, as saving the Philippines (if it needs saving) should not be left to political personalities. It is the job of each one of us, and part of that job is maintaining a high standard for those whom we appoint, by virtue of our political obligation to vote, as heralds of our nation’s future.

If more Filipinos, perhaps, show that we are interested in the meat rather than the sauce, so to speak, then maybe more politicians would shape up. When arguments based on ideas sizzle more than silly memes masking what are otherwise attacks on the dignity of persons, then maybe personalities will matter less than principles.

We must be careful not to get caught up in the theatrics, let alone become its participants. Democracy, after all, is built on the principle that it is possible to have a government for the people and by the people—not for personalities by personalities.