VP impeached; House gets 257 votes to start trial
The House of Representatives on Monday indicted Sara Duterte on charges of corruption and constitutional violations, making her the first vice president in the country’s history to be impeached twice.
The case will now be sent to the Senate for a trial that could doom her presidential ambitions.
An overwhelming majority of 257 lawmakers voted to impeach Duterte, while 25 voted against and nine abstained.
“The Articles of Impeachment before us … is not merely a political document. They reflect a larger question troubling the Filipino people,” Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro, who headed the congressional panel that deliberated on the complaints against Duterte, told the floor in her sponsorship speech in Filipino.
“What kind of leadership is truly deserving of our nation?,” she asked.
“What’s at stake here is the trust of the Filipino people and the stability of our republic,” she added.
‘Threat to democratic order’
The 93-page document containing the articles of impeachment described Duterte as deliberately undermining accountability systems and desecrating the oath sworn by public officials to uphold the nation’s laws.
“By her own hand, she has rendered herself an outcast to the Constitution and a threat to the democratic order she was sworn to uphold,” it said.
Duterte, 47, was impeached on similar accusations last year, in a process that saw the House skipping the committee process and 215 lawmakers signing on to a complaint that then went straight to the Senate.
The Supreme Court later voided the case over what it said were procedural flaws.
Following news of Duterte’s impeachment, the Vice President’s legal team said it was “fully prepared” to face the Senate impeachment trial, once the House has transmitted the articles of impeachment to the Senate.
In a statement, Duterte’s team stressed that the development means “the burden now rests on the accusers to substantiate their claims in accordance with the Constitution, the law, and rules on evidence.”
“While questions of constitutional significance remain pending before the Supreme Court, we are fully prepared to defend the Vice President before the Senate sitting as an Impeachment Court, where it is incumbent upon the Prosecution to discharge the burden of proof,” it added.
Duterte faces four impeachment articles that allege she misused secret funds allotted to her office, bribed officials to circumvent procurement guidelines, amassed unexplained wealth, and plotted to have President Marcos, first lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former Speaker Martin Romualdez assassinated if she, too, was killed.
Four complaints were filed against Duterte in February, but the justice panel struck one down for violating the one‑year bar on impeachment proceedings, while another complaint was withdrawn by its proponents to bolster the remaining cases.
‘Careful’ process
“We now hold the fruit of a long process,” said Luistro. “This was not built overnight, It is not the product of gossip, anger, or shouts on social media. In the process, we were careful. We did not rush.”
A series of hearings by the justice panel in April strengthened the case against Duterte, who submitted no rebuttal to testimonies and financial records presented at the hearings. The evidence against her include sworn statements by a former campaign supporter who claimed he acted as her “bagman,” and an investigation report by the National Bureau of Investigation on her threats against Mr. Marcos and his family.
The Anti-Money Laundering Council also submitted a report showing that P6.7 billion flowed through Duterte and her husband’s accounts, far eclipsing her annual wealth declarations by the tens of millions. Duterte listed a net worth of P88.51 million in 2024.
Lawmakers also flagged how she had used P612.5 million in confidential funds released to her office and the education department from 2022 to 2023, with irregularities noted in how the money was spent and accounted for.
Duterte, a daughter of former President Rodrigo Duterte, had refused to participate in the justice panel’s hearings, claiming that the impeachment moves against her were politically motivated. She had earlier announced her plan to run for president in 2028.
But, according to Luistro, the panel “gave each side the chance to be heard [and] the hearings were conducted openly, livestreamed, and accessible to the public. Above all, we listened even to those opposing the impeachment … we did not look for shortcuts.”
Luistro was one of the members of the original panel of prosecutors tasked for the 2025 impeachment case. The House has yet to announce the composition of the new prosecution team for Duterte’s Senate trial.
Four grounds
The Luistro-sponsored Committee Report No. 261 contains the two approved impeachment complaints against Duterte, consolidated into four grounds: 1) culpable violation of the Constitution, graft and corruption, and betrayal of public trust through the systematic liquidation misuse, misappropriation, and irregular of confidential funds amounting to P500 million under the Office of the Vice President and P112.5 million under the Department of Education (DepEd).
2) Culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust when Duterte amassed unexplained wealth manifestly disproportionate to her lawful income and earnings during her incumbency as a public official.
3) Bribery, graft, and corruption, culpable violation of the Constitution, and betrayal of public trust when she gave monetary gifts or payments to DepEd officials to induce the violation and circumvention of procurement and other related laws; and
4) Culpable violation of the Constitution, high crimes, and betrayal of public trust by contracting for the assassination of the President, the first lady, and the former Speaker of the House, by making grave threats, and by actively inciting sedition against the republic.
