Sara slapped with third impeach rap

Vice President Sara Duterte was slapped with a third impeachment complaint on Thursday for culpable violation of the Constitution, bribery, graft and corruption, and betrayal of public trust.

Calling for Duterte’s removal from office, the complaint was filed by lawyers and priests. Deputy Minority Leader Lex Anthony Colada and Camarines Sur Rep. Gabriel Bordado endorsed the complaint.

Lawyer Amando Virgil Ligutan said the petition relied heavily on the findings of the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability, which alleged irregularities in the use by Duterte of P612.5 million in confidential funds of the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education when she headed the latter.

“This is primarily based on how the Office of the Vice President, under the sitting Vice President, disbursed millions of pesos in 11 days without proper documentation,” Ligutan told reporters.

The first two impeachment complaints filed against Duterte were also anchored on alleged funds mismanagement and were endorsed by minority lawmakers.

Duterte has been at the center of intense scrutiny amid allegations of having misappropriated P612.5 million in confidential funds allocated to the OVP (P500 million) and the DepEd (P112.5 million) in 2022 and 2023. A significant portion of the funds was flagged by the Commission on Audit (CoA).

Of the P500 million, P125 million was appropriated to the OVP in 2022. Of the amount, P73.287 million was disallowed by CoA due to the lack of “documents evidencing the success of information gathering and/or surveillance activities” for which the funds were allegedly used.

Fr. Joselito Sarabia, one of the complainants, said, “[We] believe Vice President Sara committed something illegal and something immoral against the Filipino people.”

“For us, thou shall not kill, thou shall not steal, thou shall not bear false witness,” he told the media.

The complaint stated that Duterte’s “continuous failure to submit documentary evidence of payment of rewards or proof that her information gathering was successful evidenced inexcusable negligence on the Vice President’s part to ensure that the Filipino people’s money was properly spent.”

Non-appearance

The complainants accused Duterte of committing plunder through malversation, noting that she is a public and accountable officer who had custody of the public funds in question but failed to account for them.

“If this honorable House of Representatives allows the Vice President to get away with what she did, what is stopping other less ethical public officials from misappropriating millions and millions of hard-earned public money by the mere flimsy excuse that disposition be confidential?” the petition read.

“Impeachment is the necessary, ultimate line of defense against corruption at the highest rungs of officialdom… she cannot be Vice President a minute longer,” the complainants asserted.

Bordado, a member of the once-ruling Liberal Party who will be the running mate of former Vice President Leni Robredo in the local elections in Naga City in 2025, stressed that Duterte’s continued refusal to appear before legislative inquiries into allegations of fund misuse “[has] further eroded confidence in her capacity to serve with transparency and integrity.”

“Her inflammatory statements and apparent disregard for transparency and due process constitute grounds for impeachment,” Bordado said.

The House, dominated by the VP’s critics, has maintained that they are “duty bound” to act on complaints lodged by ordinary Filipino citizens, regardless of possible challenges and time constraints.

However, they were silent on whether they would support the petition, given that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had appealed to them to stop any attempt to remove Duterte from office.

The influential religious sect Iglesia Ni Cristo had echoed Marcos’ call to lawmakers and warned that they will conduct a nationwide rally to oppose the impeachment.