Vice President Sara Duterte was hit with another impeachment complaint on Thursday, the third in a row this month.

Religious groups, including Catholic priests, and lawyers filed the complaint, seeking Duterte’s removal from office for culpable violation of the Constitution, bribery, graft and corruption, and betrayal of public trust.

Deputy Minority Leader Lex Anthony Colada of the AAMBIS-OWA party list and Camarines Sur Rep. Gabriel Bordado, both members of the House minority bloc, endorsed the complaint.

Attorney Amando Virgil Ligutan, who led the filing before the House of Representatives, stated that the petition relies heavily on findings from the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability. The committee has been investigating alleged irregularities in the disbursement of P612.5 million in confidential funds allocated to the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd) during Duterte’s tenure as education secretary.

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

The first two impeachment complaints against Duterte also centered on alleged fund mismanagement and were likewise endorsed by minority lawmakers.

Duterte has been under intense scrutiny amid accusations of misappropriating P612.5 million in confidential funds allocated to the OVP (P500 million) and DepEd (P112.5 million) in 2022 and 2023. A significant portion of these funds has been flagged by the Commission on Audit (CoA).

Of the P500 million, P125 million was allocated to the OVP in 2022, which was reportedly spent in just 11 days in December of the same year. CoA disallowed P73.287 million due to insufficient documentation evidencing the success of the information gathering or surveillance activities for which the funds were allegedly used.

Fr. Joselito Sarabia, one of the complainants, said they believe Duterte committed acts that were both illegal and immoral.

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

The complaint alleges that Duterte’s failure to provide documentation for the funds’ disbursement constitutes inexcusable negligence, accusing her of committing plunder through malversation. The petitioners stressed that as a public official with custody of public funds, Duterte had a duty to account for their proper use.

“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 of hard-earned public money under the flimsy excuse of confidentiality?” the petition reads.

The complainants further argued that impeachment is a necessary tool to hold top officials accountable for corruption, stating, “She cannot be Vice President a minute longer.”

Representative Bordado, a member of the Liberal Party and a 2025 running mate of former Vice President Leni Robredo in Naga City, criticized Duterte’s refusal to appear before legislative inquiries. He claimed her actions have “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.

While the House, dominated by Duterte’s critics, has stated its duty to act on complaints filed by citizens, it has remained noncommittal about supporting the petition. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has already appealed to lawmakers to refrain from pursuing her removal.

The influential Iglesia Ni Cristo religious sect echoed Marcos’ call and warned it would organize a nationwide rally to oppose the impeachment.