House impeaches VP Sara, Senate adjourns case trial until June

Following the fourth impeachment complaint against Duterte, more than one-third of the lawmakers supported the complaint against the VP, surpassing the required signature mandated by the 1987 Constitution, according to the House Secretary General Reginald Velasco during the plenary session.

With the constitutional threshold of 102 signatures met, the House Secretary General has been directed to transmit the complaint to the Senate, where Duterte will face an impeachment trial.

Senate Secretary Renato Bantug Jr. officially received the Articles of Impeachment against Duterte from House Secretary General Reginald Velasco at about 5 in the afternoon.

Following the official transmittal of the rap at the Senate on Wednesday, the Secretariats of the Senate and the House of Representatives have started the formal review of the impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte.

Since the Senate's most recent regular session ended on February 05 and will restart on June 2, the review is required before the complaint is added as one of the issues during the plenary, which might resume in June.

In accordance with Section 16, Rule 6 of the Rules of Procedures in Impeachment Proceedings, 11 members were endorsed and approved to serve as prosecutors in the impeachment trial

The House appointed members are Rep. Gerville "JinkyBitrics" Luistro (Batangas, 2nd District), Rep. Romeo Acop (Antipolo, 2nd District), Rep. Ramon Rodrigo Gutierrez (1-Rider Partylist), Rep. Joel Chua (Manila, 3rd District), Rep. Rau Angelo "Jil" Bongalon (AKO Bicol), Rep. Loreto Acharon (General Santos, Lone District), Rep. Marcelino Libanan (4Ps Party-list), Rep. Arnan Panaligan (Oriental Mindoro, 1st District), Rep. Ysabel Maria Zamora (San Juan, Lone District), Rep. Lorenz Defensor (Iloilo, 3rd District), and Rep. Jonathan Keith Flores (Bukidnon, 2nd District).

The impeachment complaint approved by lawmakers cited seven Articles of Impeachment against Duterte, according to the House Secretary General.

The seven Articles of Impeachment are the following: Conspiracy to Assassinate President Marcos, First Lady, and Speaker Romualdez; Malversation of P612.5 Million in Confidential Funds; Bribery and Corruption in DepEd; Unexplained Wealth and Failure to Disclose Assets; Involvement in Extrajudicial Killings (Davao Death Squad); Destabilization, Insurrection, and Public Disorder; and The totality of the Vice President's conduct as the second highest official of the land.

These are linked to alleged violations of the 1987 constitution, the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, and other laws.

According to the verified complaint approved by the House plenary, the complainants moved to impeach Duterte "based on the grounds of Culpable Violation of the Constitution, Betrayal of Public Trust, Graft and Corruption, and Other High Crimes."

The impeachment follows three complaints filed against Duterte, citing alleged misuse of confidential funds, graft and corruption, and betrayal of public trust—grounds for impeachment under the 1987 Constitution. 

The first complaint, endorsed by Akbayan party-list Rep. Perci Cendaña, sought Duterte's impeachment for allegedly failing to account for P125 million in confidential funds allocated to the Office of the Vice President in 2022 and for leaving behind P7 billion in unliquidated cash advances from her tenure as education secretary.

A second case, which the Makabayan bloc at the House is backing, is centered on betrayal of public confidence over the confidential money.

In December, a third complaint against Duterte was filed by priests and civil society members. According to lawyer Amando Virgil Ligutan, the complaint was "primarily based on how the Office of the Vice President, how the sitting Vice President of the public disbursed millions of pesos in 11 days without proper documentation."

Rep. Lex Anthony Colada of the AAMBIS-OWA Party-list and Rep. Gabriel Bordado Jr. of the Camarines Sur 3rd District both supported the lawsuit.

However, these three complaints will be archived according to House leadership.

On the evening of February 5, Senate President Chiz Escudero denied that the senate is preparing for anything regarding impeachment.

“The senate is not preparing for anything regarding impeachment.” Escudero said.

“We cannot and will assume anything unless it is a fact. The statements made by an over-eager staff was not authorized by me nor was it proper” he added.

According to the senators, before moving further, any impeachment accusation against Duterte must go via plenary action.

"There has to be a plenary action first. Everything we do, including the declaration of senators sitting as an impeachment court, needs plenary action. It is the plenary action that will give us the go signal," Senator Joel Villanueva said.

Along with this, the Senate adjourns the session for the impeachment trial until June 2, 2025 without tackling the impeachment complaint against the Vice President.

Senator Ronald Dela Rosa said that the Impeachment rap would likely be tackled after the May 13 midterm elections.

"Most likely, if the articles of impeachment are transmitted to us, we will already be on break. So, the earliest we can tackle that in plenary is after the elections," he said.

“Let’s see. But from what I’ve heard in our discussions, it seems likely that we will tackle it after the elections," he added.