The House of Representatives and the Senate should carry out their constitutional duties in the impeachment proceedings against Vice President Sara Duterte without losing sight of the economic problems most urgent to Filipinos, an OCTA Research fellow said.
University of the Philippines Assistant Professor Ranjit Rye said Congress has a clear role in the impeachment process, but lawmakers must also continue working on measures that address inflation, wages, food access, poverty, and corruption.
“Trabaho ng House at tsaka Senate ‘yan, kasi ‘yung power of the purse nasa kanila eh. Sana hindi ho matanggal ang focus habang ginagampanan natin ang constitutional roles natin dito sa impeachment,” Rye said during the Saturday News Forum at Dapo Restaurant.
Citing OCTA Research’s first-quarter 2026 survey, Rye said Filipinos identified the rising prices of basic goods and services as their most urgent national concern at 45 percent.
This was followed by improving workers’ wages and salaries at 33 percent, fighting graft and corruption in government at 26 percent, access to affordable food such as rice, vegetables, and meat at 24 percent, and reducing poverty at 20 percent.
The same ranking was observed across all socioeconomic classes.
On a personal level, Filipinos listed staying healthy and avoiding illness as their top concern at 67 percent, followed by having enough food daily at 46 percent, securing a well-paying job or income source at 42 percent, building savings at 41 percent, and finishing schooling or providing education for their children at 39 percent.
Rye said the findings should guide the legislative agenda, especially as Congress prepares for budget deliberations on the proposed 2027 national budget later this year.
“Kung matalino lang ang politiko, ‘yun lang ang babasahin nila. ‘Yun ang agenda nila for the next year,” he said. “Kasi ‘yun ho ang sinasabi ng mga kababayan natin, ano ang dapat bigyan ng pansin ng solusyon ng ating gobyerno in the next three months.”
He said both chambers should remember that Filipinos are looking for solutions to daily problems, most of which are economic in nature.
“‘Yan ang importanteng kailangan hindi natin makalimutan habang nililitis natin ang impeachment sa Senado, na the both Houses should focus on what Filipinos yearn. They yearn for a solution to the everyday problems and they’re all economic,” Rye said.
The political science professor also noted that corruption has emerged as a stronger public concern in recent surveys.
According to Rye, fighting graft entered the top five urgent national concerns only in the fourth quarter of 2025 and remained there in the first quarter of 2026.
“Was it an urgent issue last year? Two years before? Hindi. Was it a top 10 issue, yes. Pero ngayon, it continues to be an issue,” he said.
Rye said the shift should push Congress to treat corruption-related probes not merely as political exercises, but as openings for institutional reform.
With the Senate impeachment trial expected to begin as early as July, he said lawmakers face the challenge of performing their constitutional duty while still responding to the everyday concerns of Filipinos.