Only six congressmen have endorsed the three impeachment complaints against Vice President Sara Duterte, as proponents plan a series of mobilizations this month to urge the House of Representatives to act on the petitions, which have been stagnant for more than one month.

House Deputy Minority Leader Rep. France Castro, who revealed the number, said some lawmakers had only pledged support.

“As of now, we haven’t gathered enough votes. But this is our effort to encourage our colleagues in Congress,” Castro said, referring to the planned mass action.

In a briefing following a closed-door meeting on the impeachment plans, Bayan chairperson and former Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casiño said that mass actions would be held on the 18th, 25th, 27th, and 31st of this month. The group plans to collect enough signatures from individuals, sectors and organizations for their joint statement.

The signature drive is aimed at pressuring the House leadership to transmit the impeachment petitions to the Office of the House Speaker and the Committee on Justice, eventually to move the process to the Senate.

The group stressed it was time for congressmen to hold the VP accountable.

“Next week, we will wrap up the efforts to advance [the impeachment.] We want it to reach the Senate before 7 February so the Senate can start the trial,” said Casiño, one of the petitioners of the second impeachment complaint, in Filipino.

Congress is currently on a holiday break and would be pressed for time, with another recess scheduled beginning 7 February in preparation for the May 2025 election campaign.

House Secretary General Reginald Velasco, who is responsible for referring the complaints to the Speaker’s office, confirmed that he had not yet transmitted them, as they were still under review by the House of Representatives’ legal department to assess the merits of the cases.

Another factor for the delayed submission, he said, was that some congressmen from the majority bloc have appealed for leeway to examine the complaints and possibly endorse one of them or file a fourth impeachment complaint next week.

The influential Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC) sect is set to hold a nationwide rally on Monday to coincide with the resumption of the Congress session, reportedly to oppose the move to impeach Duterte following President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s call.

Critics have speculated that the House’s delay in acting on the petitions is due to concerns about losing INC support, from its millions of members who vote as a bloc in elections.

Jerome Adonis, secretary general of Kilusang Mayo Uno, said it was essential for House members to prioritize the merits of the complaints over political affiliations.

Other petitioners had also warned both the House and the Senate that various sectors and organizations outside their circle were closely monitoring their actions and responses to the call for the VP’s impeachment.

“The timing is perfect. Because now the whole Senate will be under the court of the people. Each one of them will be judged very, very minutely. So I think they better be careful,” said Sylvia Pimentel Yuzon, a signatory to the first impeachment complaint, from the Global Transparency and Transformation Advocates Network.

“We expect that you will do your job, your moral and legal duty. That’s why you are there. You represent the people, our rights and dignity. We are expecting this from you. We are watching you,” another complainant said, alluding to the members of the House.

Meanwhile, Casiño, who is eyeing a Senate seat, dismissed claims that the effort to oust Duterte will be dead in the water after the elections, claiming that the impeachment trial will be potentially stretched and reach the 20th Congress when a new batch of legislators will be sworn in.

The embattled Duterte faces three impeachment complaints, all accusing her of culpable violation of the Constitution, bribery, graft and corruption, and betrayal of public trust — all grounds for impeachment.

The complaints, from multi-sectoral groups, are heavily anchored on the findings of the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability which investigated alleged irregularities in Duterte’s expenditure of P612.5 million in confidential funds — P500 million of the Office of the Vice President and P112.5 million of the Department of Education during her tenure as its head.

While the VP has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, she remains unfazed, seeing the impending impeachment trial as an opportunity to “exclusively” address the corruption allegations against her.