As of this writing, two Impeachment Complaints against Philippine Vice-President Sara Duterte have been filed with the House of Representatives -- first, by civil society organizations headed by Akbayan party-list Rep. Percival Cendaña (on Dec. 2), and second, by progressive groups headed by Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) on Dec. 4. The Secretary General of the House said there is still a third Impeachment Complaint coming within next week, and added that these complaints will be “combined” for referral to the Committee on Justice upon inclusion in the Order of Business (date not definite yet).



The House of Representatives had been investigating Vice President Sara Duterte for her alleged misuse of millions of Confidential Funds, both for the Vice President’s office and for the Dept. of Education (DepEd) when VP Sara held the department secretary position (2022-2024). The House Committee on Good Government and accountability hearings revealed highly questionable use of Confidential Funds (due to disallowances by the Commission on Audit [COA]) and confirmation receipts signed by fictitious people (non-existent ones according to the Philippine Statistics Authority [PSA]). There were also evidence of bribing DepEd officials involved in procurement process and instructing subordinates involved in disbursing funds to directly disburse millions to two security heads of the Vice President and DepEd Secretary.



The two Impeachment Complaints both accuse VP Sara of betrayal of public trust, for allegedly violating the Philippine Constitution (Section 1, Art. XI) which says “Public office is a public trust. Public officers and employees must at all times be accountable to the people, serve them with utmost responsibility, integrity, loyalty, and efficiency, act with patriotism and justice, and lead modest lives.”



It should be noted that perhaps the third Impeachment Complaint could be led by House members who are committee leaders and members that successfully exposed VP Sara Duterte’s abuse of power via misuse of public funds, disrespect for the legislature, and grave threat against the President, the First Lady, and House Speaker Martin Romualdez.



The present confusion among many Filipinos nowadays resulted from the recent “opinion” of President Bongbong Marcos saying he thinks NO Impeachment Complaint should be filed in Congress because it is “unimportant,” and will only eat up Congressional time better spent on more pressing issues the country faces now. Some political analysts say the probable reason for Marcos’ position re impeachment is actually “numbers.” While the House may be able to approve a Resolution of Impeachment with the required one-third (1/3) members (about 110) of the House, the required two-thirds (2/3) of the Senate acting as Impeachment Court (16 Senators out of 23) may not be reached, as there are Duterte supporters more than enough to dismiss this Impeachment case. Some also opine that Pres. Marcos doesn’t want to carry the blame that he instigated the ouster of VP Sara.



Regardless, Impeachment Complaints have been filed so the House is mandated by the Philippine Constitution to act on them. If the complainants are able to gather the signatures of at least 1/3 of the House Members, there is no need for committee hearings anymore and the Resolution of Impeachment goes straight to the Senate acting as Impeachment Court.



Now, whether or not VP Sara Duterte is impeached, that will be the big question.



Perhaps if thousands of people gather before the Senate during its court deliberations on this Impeachment case, this will be People Power in action all over, and it is going to be VP Sara’s political end.