VP Sara faces fresh legal challenges

Two separate impeachment complaints were filed on Monday against Vice President Sara Duterte, coming shortly after the Supreme Court ruled last year’s impeachment articles against her unconstitutional.

The first complaint was endorsed by the Makabayan bloc, with former lawmakers France Castro and Neri Colmenares among the named complainants. Renato Reyes of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) said the complaint centers on alleged betrayal of public trust over the misuse of confidential funds.

The second complaint was filed by Kiko Aquino Dee of Tindig Pilipinas, former peace secretary Ging Deles, Ramon Magsaysay Awardee 2025 Fr. Flavie Villanueva, and youth and sectoral leaders, and was joined by ML Partylist Rep. Leila de Lima and Akbayan Partylist Rep. Perci Cendaña. This complaint accuses Duterte of culpable violations of the Constitution, graft and corruption, bribery, betrayal of public trust, and other high crimes.

ACT Teachers Partylist Rep. Antonio Tinio said the complaints allege Duterte committed “gross abuse of discretionary powers” over P612.5 million in confidential funds of the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education from December 2022 to the third quarter of 2023. He noted that P125 million of these funds was spent in just 11 days in December 2022, and P73 million was later disallowed by the Commission on Audit due to missing documentation and expenditures outside permitted guidelines. The complaint also includes allegations of submitting fabricated liquidation reports, including receipts for fictitious recipients such as “Mary Grace Piattos.”

Duterte’s legal team, led by Michael Poa, said the filings “come as no surprise.” 

Poa emphasized that, as the Supreme Court has stated, impeachment is “not merely a political process initiated by allegations or public acclaim shaped by press releases or viral posts. It is a constitutional mechanism governed by standards, evidence, and due process.”

The Vice President herself said last week that her lawyers have been preparing for potential new impeachment complaints since the fourth quarter of 2023. 

“They were hired the moment one of the members of the House announced they would file a case against me,” Duterte said in an ambush interview in The Hague on 29 January.

House officials also clarified that the Supreme Court ruling against the previous complaint has no impact on the new filings. 

San Juan Rep. Ysabel Maria Zamora, vice chair of the House Committee on Justice, explained that the high court’s decision applied only to complaints filed under the second mode, which requires the support of at least one-third of House members. 

The new complaints were filed under the first mode by private citizens and endorsed by members of Congress. “There is no effect on the proceedings before this committee,” she said.

Committee Chair Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro and vice chairs Bukidnon Rep. Keith Flores and Ako Bicol Partylist Rep. Alfredo Garbin agreed, noting that the Supreme Court’s definition of “session days” as calendar days does not affect the timetable for the current complaints. Luistro also cautioned lawmakers against interpreting the SC ruling on their own, saying such matters should be left to House leadership and proper committees.

On Monday, the two complaints were formally filed at the Office of the Secretary General of the House of Representatives. The first targets the alleged misuse of confidential funds, while the second, endorsed by De Lima and Cendaña, focuses on broader allegations of graft, corruption, and abuse of power.