Photo courtesy of Inday Sara Duterte/Facebook.
Civil society leaders and progressive groups filed two separate impeachment complaints against Vice President Sara Duterte on Monday, accusing her of betrayal of public trust and other impeachable offenses linked to the alleged misuse of confidential funds.
One complaint was backed by the Makabayan coalition, with former lawmakers France Castro and Neri Colmenares among the complainants, while a second was lodged by a group led by Tindig Pilipinas coconvener Kiko Aquino Dee, joined by Akbayan Rep. Percival Cendaña and Mamamayang Liberal Rep. Leila de Lima.
The Makabayan-backed complaint cited three grounds for impeachment, including Duterte’s alleged abuse of discretion in the use of P612.5 million in confidential funds from December 2022 to the third quarter of 2023, as well as accusations of submitting fabricated liquidation and accomplishment reports to auditors.
It also accused Duterte of disregarding transparency and accountability mechanisms and of refusing to recognize congressional oversight during budget deliberations, which the complainants said amounted to dereliction of official duty.
The second complaint listed five articles of impeachment, alleging constitutional violations, graft and corruption, bribery and unexplained wealth, gross incompetence and abuse of power, and the alleged toleration of extrajudicial killings while taking part in efforts to destabilize the government.
The filing came amid differing interpretations of a Supreme Court ruling on the one-year constitutional bar on impeachment cases. House justice committee chair Rep. Gerville Luistro said lawmakers sought clarification on whether the prohibition period should be reckoned from Feb. 5, 2025, or from Dec. 2, 2024, when the first complaint was filed.
“It depends on which decision you are referring to,” Luistro said, adding, “Which date should we follow? Is it the reckoning period of Feb. 5, or that of Dec. 2? I hope this can be clarified by the Honorable [SC].”
Malacañang, for its part, denied any role in the filing of the new complaints. “But even so, we have no hand in this. We are not responsible for the filing of those complaints,” Palace press officer Claire Castro said.