House panel eyes 29 April vote on VP impeachment

Batangas 2nd District Rep. Gerville Luistro said that she anticipates that the House Committee on Justice members will vote on the determination of probable cause in the impeachment proceedings of Vice President Sara Duterte in its upcoming hearing.

Luistro explained that the expectation stems from the fact that all the committee had to discuss was the report of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) regarding the verbal threats that Duterte issued to high-ranking officials.

“We anticipate that at the end of the hearing on April 29, the justice members will proceed to vote on the determination of probable cause,” she said in an online interview this Thursday.

The Justice committee’s chairperson expressed that regardless of the evidence that was set to be presented, that the members already had more than enough to justify a vote that would have the complaints be presented to the House plenary.

In its two most recent hearings, the testimonies of the Vice President’s supposed bagman Ramil Madriaga and former senator Antonio “Sonny” Trillanes, along with documents relating to the alleged ill-gotten wealth of Duterte indicated in her shared Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN) with husband Atty. Mans Carpio from 2005 to 2024.

For Luistro, the issue of funds was the most significant, as the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) also revealed that the couple had numerous transactions coming to and from their bank accounts which amounted to billions of pesos throughout the same period.

“What is really significant in the SALN…is not the net worth of P88 million. It is not simply the increase in the amount of net worth. What is significant there is the non-disclosure,” she said.

On Wednesday, 22 April, Bicol Saro Rep. Terry Ridon pointed out that there was inflow and outflow of cash from Duterte and Carpio’s bank accounts between 2019 and 2024 despite the Vice President not declaring any cash on hand and cash deposits within the time frame.

The lack of input could warrant a finding of betrayal of public trust, an issue that Luistro had previously said was one of the impeachables offenses under the Constitution.