{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"On Assignment With Me","title":"Why the Powerful Don't Go to Jail in the Philippines. And How to Fix It.","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":2236,"description":"It has been an eventful few weeks in Philippine politics and pursuing accountability.\nMartin Romualdez — former House Speaker and the President's own cousin — was arrested for plunder on September 7, 2026, over ₱7.44 billion in alleged flood control kickbacks. He's now in Payatas jail. At the same time, the Senate impeachment court is trying Vice President Sara Duterte over ₱612.5 million in confidential funds — a parallel test of whether the country's most powerful families can actually be held to account.\nIt looks like justice finally caught up with the powerful.\n\nBut here's the data most people don't see: fewer than 1 in 10 officials involved in corruption cases in the Philippines actually serve time. Cases drag for years. Evidence disappears. And often, the very lawyers sworn to uphold the law are the ones helping officials move and hide the money.\n\nOn this assignment, I sit down with Ted Te, human rights lawyer, law professor, former Supreme Court spokesperson, and private prosecutor in the Duterte impeachment trial, to ask the question everyone's avoiding: is this actually different, or just theater with better production values?\n\nWe talk about:\n — Why plunder convictions almost never lead to prison time\n — How lawyers help the powerful launder money \"legally\"\n — Whether impeachment can ever deliver real accountability\n — The flawed Philippine justice system \n — What would actually need to change to fix this\n\n🎙️ On Assignment With Me\n Guest: Ted Te (@iamtedte)\n#Philippines #Romualdez #Corruption #Plunder #Impeachment #SaraDuterte #Sandiganbayan #PhilippinePolitics #Accountability","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/acY2pOlBGfJPFNjaOk2EZN93FISg7pvqTYOuEa-SMAw/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS81MGY3/ZTI3N2Q1ZDFhM2Zh/ZTJmZjdmYmVlOWE5/ZGI0Ni5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}