The House minority has confirmed that an impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte is set to be filed in December, despite President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s appeal to lawmakers to avoid efforts he deemed a “waste of time.”

House Deputy Minority Leader France Castro, a staunch critic of the VP, stated that Bayan Muna will lodge the complaint, with the Makabayan bloc committed to endorsing it. “If we could finish [it]… I think it may be filed before the year ends,” Castro said in Filipino.

“The President has no say if Makabayan would carry on with the endorsement of the impeachment [complaint],” she added.

Marcos has urged Congress to focus on legislative work, warning that impeachment proceedings would “tie down the House and Senate” without benefiting the Filipino people. “As far as I’m concerned, it’s a storm in a teacup,” Marcos told reporters on Friday.

Allegations against the VP

The impeachment talk intensified following Duterte’s controversial remarks alleging a plot to assassinate her and her subsequent statement about retaliatory actions against Marcos, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and House Speaker Martin Romualdez. Duterte claimed her remarks were “maliciously taken out of logical context.”

Duterte has accused Romualdez of orchestrating the probe into alleged misuse of P612.5 million in confidential funds allocated to the Office of the Vice President (P500 million) and the Department of Education (P112.5 million) in 2022 and 2023. Romualdez denied the allegations, calling them an attempt to divert attention from mounting issues against Duterte.

Romualdez, however, shot back at Duterte, saying such allegations were a patent attempt to divert the public’s attention from the mounting issues leveled against her.

Duterte and Romualdez are perceived as front-runners in the next national polls. While the VP had previously implied that she was open to gunning for the highest post, the House chief, on the other hand, said otherwise. The two have been at odds since mid-2023 after the Romualdez-led House realigned her multi-million fund request for confidential funds to security and intel agencies.

President’s “intervention”

The Makabayan bloc criticized Marcos for allegedly interfering in the legislative process, asserting it undermined Congress’ independence. “The President's blatant meddling in congressional proceedings is troubling,” Makabayan said in a joint statement.

Bayan Muna chairperson Teddy Casino said, “It is improper for him to dismiss efforts to hold [Duterte] accountable through this process. In fact, not doing so is a betrayal of the public interest and the people's trust…Discouraging impeachment would also seem that the President is still hoping to rekindle their alliance.”

House leadership's stance

House leaders, including Senior Deputy Speaker Aurelio "Dong" Gonzales Jr. and Majority Leader Manuel Jose “Mannix” Dalipe, reiterated that impeachment proceedings against Duterte are not currently on the lower chamber's agenda. However, they emphasized that Congress is “duty-bound” to act on properly filed complaints.

“This is not just the responsibility of the institution, but also the individual duty of each congressman to uphold the Constitution. Should an impeachment complaint be properly filed in accordance with the rules, the House is obligated to deliberate on it fairly and transparently, ensuring that the process adheres to the highest standards of justice,” they stressed.

Under the 1987 Constitution, high-ranking officials, including the Vice President, can be impeached for graft and corruption, betrayal of public trust, treason, bribery, and other high crimes.

I the landmark case of Leila de Lima vs. Rodrigo Duterte in October 2019, the Supreme Court ruled that the President may not be sued and cannot be investigated for any criminal offense while in office.

In 2021, several prominent lawyers argued that this privilege does not extend to the Vice President, leaving them open to criminal charges while in office.

Veteran election lawyer Romulo Macalintal, however, contended that the Vice President should also enjoy immunity from suit, given that both the President and Vice President are impeachable officials.