4th Sara rap flags wealth, trust issues

A fourth impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte has reached the House of Representatives, sharpening scrutiny on allegations of unexplained wealth, alleged misuse of confidential funds, and actions that lawmakers say constitute a betrayal of public trust.

The verified complaint was formally received by the Office of the Secretary General on Wednesday evening and transmitted on Thursday to the office of Speaker Faustino “Bojie” G. Dy III, in line with House rules. 

It was filed by lawyer Nathaniel G. Cabrera and endorsed by Deputy Speaker Paolo Ortega V and House Committee on Human Rights Chairman Bienvenido Abante Jr.

Ortega said the complaint raises “serious nd disturbing” allegations, particularly involving purported omissions and inconsistencies in Duterte’s Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN).

“This is about constitutional accountability. The SALN is mandatory and must be complete and truthful, and any undeclared asset or unexplained wealth is a grave issue,” Ortega said.

The complaint alleges that certain bank accounts, properties, and large cash movements were not fully disclosed, prompting calls for a forensic review of bank records and property transactions to determine whether Duterte’s declared net worth accurately reflected her true financial position.

Ortega also cited a sworn affidavit by an alleged Duterte bagman who claimed to have transported millions of pesos in cash — allegedly packed in duffel bags —following the encashment of confidential and intelligence funds allocated to the Office of the Vice President and to the Department of Education.

Cash transfers

“These confidential and intelligence funds amounting to hundreds of millions of pesos are subject to strict audit rules, and when there are sworn accounts of large cash transfers, those must be reconciled with SALN disclosures,” Ortega said.

He stressed that endorsing the complaint does not amount to a conviction. 

“This is not a conviction. This is a process. But when there are sworn statements about large cash transfers and serious red flags in asset declarations, the House cannot look away,” he said.

Meanwhile, Senior Deputy Majority Leader Lorenz Defensor said a separate allegation — that Duterte admitted speaking to someone who would kill President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. — was, in his view, an impeachable offense and a clear betrayal of public trust.

“The very reason I signed the impeachment complaint last year was because no Vice President should ever say, ‘I spoke to someone willing to kill the President,’” Defensor said in Filipino. “That will always be an impeachable offense and a betrayal of public trust.”

Defensor said the identity of the President is immaterial. 

“Even if Vice President Duterte were to become president and her vice president said the same thing, I would sign an impeachment complaint again regardless of who it is,” he said.

Under the Constitution, the House has the exclusive power to initiate an impeachment. Once included in the Order of Business, the complaint must be referred to the Committee on Justice to determine its sufficiency in form and substance before any plenary action can be taken.

Political war

The House of Representatives this month dismissed two impeachment complaints against the President, which alleged that he pocketed billions from substandard and non-existent flood control projects.

The Supreme Court deemed last year’s impeachment complaints against Duterte unconstitutional for violating the one-year bar against multiple impeachment filings.

The impeachment complaints unfolded against the backdrop of the once-formidable political alliance that swept Marcos and Duterte to victory in 2022 under the so-called UniTeam ticket.

The alliance, however, unraveled within two years amid policy disagreements, competing political ambitions and widening distrust between their camps. 

Duterte resigned from the Cabinet in 2023, with her allies accusing Malacañang of systematically isolating her.

Tensions escalated further after Marcos allowed Philippine authorities to cooperate with the International Criminal Court in the arrest of Sara’s father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, to face charges in The Hague linked to the bloody war on drugs.