IN a commanding show of support for accountability, the House of Representatives on Monday voted to impeach Vice President Sara Z. Duterte, with 255 lawmakers approving the House Committee on Justice report transmitting the Articles of Impeachment to the Senate for trial.
The vote far exceeded the 106 votes or one-third constitutional threshold, required to impeach a public official and even surpassed the original 240 lawmakers who backed the first impeachment bid against Duterte in the 19th Congress. Twenty-five of these lawmakers failed to take their oath before House Secretary General, making the official count to 215.
During the plenary session, Committee on Justice Chairperson Atty. Gerville “Jinky Bitrics” Luistro of Batangas delivered the opening statement and presented the articles of impeachment against the vice president. She said the vote will not be merely about numbers, but about whether the Constitution has been upheld, proper processes were followed, evidence exists, and truth is ultimately sought.
“Kapag may mabibigat na pagdududa tungkol sa paggamit ng pera ng bayan, tungkol sa katapatan ng SALN, tungkol sa asal at pananalita ng isang pinuno—hindi maaaring manahimik ang House of Representatives,” Luistro stressed.
“Hindi tayo maaaring magbulag-bulagan. Hindi tayo maaaring matakot. Hindi tayo maaaring maging kasabwat ng katahimikan,” she added, describing the impeachment as a matter of moral and constitutional concern.
The House then opened the floor for debate, with Sagip Party-list Rep. Paolo Henry Marcoleta, BH Party-list Rep. Robert Nazal, Davao Rep. Isidro Ungab, and Batangas Rep. Leandro Leviste questioning the regularity of the impeachment proceedings.
Luistro affirmed this, emphasizing that the House rules expressly allow the justice committee to conduct hearings during recess and impose compulsory processes such as the subpoena of witnesses and documents relevant to the allegations in the impeachment complaints.
After the lengthy interpellation from lawmakers opposing the impeachment, Senior Deputy Majority Leader Lorenz Defensor of Iloilo moved to proceed with nominal voting, with members allowed to explain their vote after the results have been announced.
With 318 members of the House, only 106 votes were needed to impeach Duterte. A total of 257 lawmakers voted in favor of transmitting the case to trial, while 26 voted against and 9 abstained.
Despite warnings from PDP-Laban, the vice president’s political party, as well as statements from some religious groups suggesting that lawmakers seeking reelection in the 2028 national elections could lose support if they vote in favor of impeachment, the final vote reflected the chamber’s strong stance on accountability for public officials.
The approved articles of impeachment contain four major charges against the vice president, including alleged misuse of confidential funds, unexplained wealth, bribery, and grave threats tied to public statements against top government officials.
The first article centers on the alleged misuse and irregular liquidation of P612.5 million in confidential funds under both the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd), which were first discovered by the House during the Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability’s investigation in 2024.
It primarily cites the Commission on Audit’s (COA) notices of disallowance that flagged the OVP’s improper use of P73 million in confidential funds in the last quarter of 2022 and another P375 million during the first three quarters of 2023.
In its ruling on the first notice of disallowance, the Commission Proper affirmed that the OVP failed to sufficiently justify the expenses with proper documentation and did not comply with COA-DBM Joint Circular No. 15, which governs the use, release, reporting, and audit of confidential funds.
Article I also builds its case on the National Bureau of Investigation’s (NBI) findings showing similarities in handwriting across multiple acknowledgment receipts supposedly signed by different beneficiaries, alongside the Philippine Statistics Authority’s (PSA) certification stating that many listed names—including the widely scrutinized “Mary Grace Piattos” and “Kokoy Villamin”—do not exist in the civil registry.
Meanwhile, the second article focuses on allegations of unexplained wealth and discrepancies in Duterte’s Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALNs), as well as her alleged continued business interests while serving as vice president, considering the Constitution strictly prohibits the president, vice president, and Cabinet members from participating in any business.
This allegation stems from the significant gap between Duterte’s declared net worth, earnings as a public official, and reported bank transactions. Her SALNs show that her declared net worth grew from P7.2 million in 2007 to more than P88.5 million in 2024, which House members said appears disproportionate to her estimated government salary earnings of around P30 million over the same period. During the last six years that Duterte filed her SALN, lawmakers also found that she failed to properly disclose her cash on hand and cash in bank in a separate line item.
Lawmakers further pointed to Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) records reflecting P6.77 billion in covered and suspicious transactions involving the vice president and her husband since 2006, raising serious questions over how massive amounts could have flowed through their accounts given Duterte’s earnings as a public official.
The third article of impeachment accuses the vice president of bribery over the alleged distribution of cash envelopes to high-ranking DepEd officials during her tenure as Education secretary. The allegation was based on testimonies and statements from former undersecretary Gloria Jumamil-Mercado, former Bids and Awards Committee chairperson Resty Osias, and former chief accountant Rhunna Catalan.
Lastly, the fourth article deals with allegations of grave threats and inciting to sedition arising from Duterte’s public statements and related acts. Central to the charge was her November 2024 video press conference, where she said she had contracted an assassin to kill President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former Speaker Martin Romualdez.
All House members were provided with electronic copies and USB storage devices containing Committee Report No. 261 on House Resolution No. 989, entitled “A Resolution Setting Forth the Articles of Impeachment against Vice President Sara Z. Duterte,” along with the attached evidence. The complainants, the respondent, and her counsel were likewise furnished with the same materials.
