Members of the clergy filed an impeachment complaint Monday against Vice Sara Duterte, the third to hit the country’s second highest official in just over a week.
The third impeachment complaint accused Duterte of bilking taxpayers of at least P612 million in confidential funds—P500 million under the Office of the Vice President from 2022 to 2023 and P112.5 million during her tenure as Education secretary.
“This is not political, we are not politicians,” Reverend Joselito Sarabia, a Catholic friar and one of the complainants, told reporters outside the House of Representatives complex.
“We believe there is a moral concern. That’s why we are here again,” he said, adding it was time for Duterte to “answer all accusations.”
The complaint also cited an alleged death threat against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. made during a late-night press briefing that Duterte has since said was misinterpreted.
Duterte’s defense spokesperson, lawyer Michael Poa, said the filing of a third impeachment came as “no surprise.”
“Let us just wait for the developments in the House regarding when that will be included in the order of business, when it will be referred to a committee, or if it will be fast-tracked,” Poa said.
Asked whether Duterte would personally appear should the House Committee on Justice summon her, Poa said the defense team would first assess developments before deciding.
“As far as I remember, at the committee level, impeachable officials usually do not appear. But we will evaluate if her presence is necessary and inform the Vice President accordingly,” he said.
The daughter of former president Rodrigo Duterte was impeached by the House of Representatives last year only to see the country’s Supreme Court throw the case out over procedural issues.
Under the Philippine constitution, an impeachment triggers a Senate trial. A guilty verdict would see Duterte barred from politics and sidelined from a potential 2028 presidential run.
Mamamayang Liberal party-list Rep. Leila de Lima, who endorsed the complaint, said she was confident it would advance to a House vote, calling it an “improved version of the articles of impeachment” sent before.
As this developed, the House Committee on Justice on Monday voted 39-4, with no abstentions, to adopt its committee report and accompanying resolution dismissing the two impeachment complaints against the President for lack of substance, panel chairperson Gerville Luistro said.
De Lima, a former Justice Secretary, said she agrees with the committee’s finding that the impeachment complaint filed by lawyer Andre de Jesus was insufficient in substance, but does not agree that the petition lodged by 36 complainants led by former Gabriela Rep. Liza Maza was also lacking in substance.
De Lima cast a “concur and dissent vote,” which Luistro said was noted.
