A GROUP in the Lower House of Congress is studying the filing of an impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte.
Under the condition of anonymity, a reliable source in the House revealed that the impeachment complaint is being prepared, citing reasons such as betrayal of public trust and graft and corruption.
According to the informant, the said group believes that there is a sufficient number of congressmen who will support the complaint. On Monday, there were rumors of an impending impeachment complaint against Duterte, with suspicions pointing to the Makabayan bloc, which the group denied.
This follows the initial statement by ACT party-list Rep. France Castro, who deemed Duterte’s handling of the P125 million confidential funds in 2022 impeachable. Of this amount, the Commission on Audit (COA) reportedly returned P73 million as it was allegedly misused for unrelated surveillance purposes.
Congress members attempted to seek an explanation from Duterte, but she refused to respond, leading Castro to accuse her of betrayal of public trust for how she spent public funds.
“It’s becoming apparent that Duterte was banking on the supposed veil of secrecy around Confidential Funds to hide her unlawful use of people’s money. This is a clear betrayal of public trust,” Castro stated.
During the budget hearing of the House committee on appropriations on the OVP budget for 2023, it was discovered that a significant portion of Duterte’s funds were spent without receipts, which Batangas Rep. Jinky Luistro referred to as ‘malversation of public funds.’
The informant mentioned that more and more people are becoming disillusioned with Duterte due to her disrespect towards the House and its leadership. As per the Constitution, only 1/3 of the 316 members of the House in the 19th Congress, equivalent to 105 votes, are needed to approve the impeachment case and elevate it to the Impeachment Court or Senate for trial. A hearing for the impeachment complaint is not required; it only needs the endorsement of 105 congressmen.
