House SecGen arrives at Senate to transmit impeach raps vs. Sara Duterte

House Secretary General Reginald Velasco has arrived at the Senate to personally transmit the Articles of Impeachment against Vice President Sara Duterte to the upper chamber.

Senate Secretary Renato Bantug Jr. officially received the documents at around 5:50 p.m. in his office.

Velasco arrived at around 4:47 p.m. or about an hour after the House of Representatives impeached Duterte.

"Dala na namin including the complaint itself, the signatures of the 215 congressmen who filed and endorsed this complaint," Velasco said.

According to Velasco, he coordinated with his counterpart, Senate Secretary Renato Bantug, earlier in the day as they were already "sure" of the numbers.

"Kanina after lunch ko tinawagan 'yung counterpart ko when we're sure na makukuha na 'yung numbers," Velasco said, noting that there were over 102 signatures at around noon time today.

According to the verified complaint approved by the House plenary, the complainants moved to impeach Duterte "based on the grounds of Culpable Violation of the Constitution, Betrayal of Public Trust, Graft and Corruption, and Other High Crimes."

As the 215 endorsers exceeded one-third of the House membership of 306, the complaint will go straight to the Senate as provided in the 1987 Constitution.

The Senate will serve as the impeachment court.

The impeachment complaint largely stemmed from the House good government and public accountability panel's inquiry on the use of confidential funds by the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd) under Duterte's leadership. — BM/ VDV, GMA Integrated News