HOUSE Quad-Comm Lead and Surigao del Norte Representative Robert Ace S. Barbers on Saturday rejected claims that the poor showing of Alyansa senatorial candidates in Mindanao was due to the impeachment complaint filed against Vice President Sara Duterte. He called such assertions “misleading and out of touch with the real sentiment of Mindanaoan voters.”
“The results speak for themselves,” Barbers, chairman of the House Committee on Dangerous Drugs, said. “Thirty-six out of 44 Mindanao lawmakers who signed the impeachment complaint were reelected. That’s a clear 81.81% 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.”
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—all of whom successfully defended their seats.
Barbers said the “blame game” now being waged by some quarters trying to pin Alyansa’s Senate losses on the impeachment complaint is 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,” Barbers said.
“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.
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