VP Sara: Preps for possible new impeachment complaint ongoing

Vice President Sara Duterte said that her lawyers have been preparing for the possible filing of a new impeachment complaint against her even after the Supreme Court upheld its 2025 ruling which found the complaint against her unconstitutional.

The Vice President, who is in The Hague, Netherlands to visit her detained father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, said that her legal team has been preparing since the fourth quarter of 2023.

“Hanggang ngayon, tuloy-tuloy pa naman ‘yung mga abogado and legal team. And nung nakaraang taon, bago mag-Christmas break, ay napag-usapan din namin ‘yung paghahanda sa impeachment,” Sara Duterte said in an interview on January 29.

(Until now, the lawyers and legal team are still working. And last year, before the Christmas break, we also discussed the preparations for the impeachment.) 

“Hindi lang ngayong taon na ito. Dahil sigurado kapag hindi sila nakapag-file ngayong taon, susunod na taon at hanggang matapos ang aking termino, ay ganoon ang gagawin nila, magpa-file sila ng kaso, impeachment man o hindi,” she added. 

(The preparations are not just for this year. Because for sure if they won’t be able to file this year, they will do so next year and until my term ends. That's what they will do, they will file a case against me, may it be for impeachment or not.) 

The Supreme Court announced Thursday that the SC En Banc “denied with finality,” by a unanimous vote, the motion for reconsideration filed by the House of Representatives, which sought to reverse the decision that declared the articles of impeachment against Duterte as unconstitutional.

The SC en banc affirmed that the fourth impeachment complaint transmitted to the Senate on February 5, 2025, was already barred by Article XI, Section 3, Subsection 5 of the Constitution.

To recall, three impeachment complaints were filed against Duterte in December 2024, all of which were connected to the alleged misuse of confidential funds.

It was the fourth impeachment complaint that was endorsed by over one-third of lawmakers from the House of Representatives and was later transmitted to the Senate as the articles of impeachment.

In August last year, the Senate voted to transfer to the archives the articles of impeachment against her, following the SC decision declaring her impeachment unconstitutional. 

Following the recent developments, the Vice President thanked her lawyers for fighting beside her. 

“Pasasalamat ko ay sa mga abogado na nagtulong-tulong para kwestyunin ‘yung pag-abuso ng proseso ng impeachment ng House of Representatives,” she said. 

(I thank my lawyers who worked altogether to question the House of Representatives’ abuse of the impeachment process.) 

She also said that she has not discussed impeachment matters yet with her father. 

“Kanina, hindi ko na binanggit sa kanya ‘yung denial ng motion for reconsideration doon sa kaso dahil ayaw ko na pag-usapan ‘yung impeachment. Mas mabuting pag-usapan ang mga bagay na mas may relevance sa buhay natin at sa bayan kaysa doon sa impeachment,” she added. 

(Earlier, I did not bring up to him the denial of the motion for reconsideration because I did not want to talk about the impeachment. It is better to talk about things that have more relevance to our lives and the people rather than the impeachment.)

House public accounts panel chairperson Terry Ridon of the Bicol Saro party-list earlier said lawmakers would only prioritize the issue of a possible new impeachment complaint against Duterte on or after February 6, when a new impeachment case may be legally filed. —VAL, GMA Integrated News