Third impeachment complaint filed vs. VP Sara Duterte

Religious groups, priests, and lawyers filed Monday a third impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte for alleged betrayal of public trust, graft and corruption, among others, over the supposed misuse of at least P612 million worth of confidential funds.

Lawyer Amando Virgil Ligutan, counsel for the complainants, said their impeachment complaint is based on the findings of the House good government and public accountability committee on the confidential fund use of the Office of the Vice President and Department of Education under Duterte, the vice president's threat of assassination of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., and the accusations of a certain Ramil Madriaga linking Duterte to drug money. 

Mamamayang Liberal (ML) Party-list Representative Leila de Lima was among the complaintants.

Mamamayang Liberal (ML) Party-list Rep. Leila de Lima and others file the third impeachment complaint against VP Sara Duterte at the House of Representatives. | via Chino Gaston/GMA Integrated News pic.twitter.com/XMHA7HWMPx

— GMA Integrated News (@gmanews) February 9, 2026

Asked for comment, Atty. Michael Poa, spokesperson of Duterte’s lawyers, said: "We have nothing further to add beyond the statement we issued last week. The filing of additional complaints was anticipated by the Defense Team."

"For now, we will continue to closely monitor developments and address these complaints through the appropriate constitutional processes," Poa added.

Last February 2, members of the Makabayan coalition and allied groups filed the first impeachment complaint against Duterte for 2026, alleging that the vice president betrayed public trust due to the following acts:

• ordering subordinates to prepare implausible accomplishment reports supported by fabricated liquidation reports and falsified documents for submission to the Commission on Audit to support the use of confidential funds; and
• dereliction of official duty with her willful refusal to recognize congressional oversight during budget deliberations and its authority to conduct inquiries in aid of legislation.

The second impeachment complaint against the vice president was also filed last February 2 by civil society organization Tindig Pilipinas and others and was endorsed by de Lima and Akbayan Party-list Representative Perci Cendaña. 

It accused the second highest ranking public official of the land of betrayal of public trust, betrayal of public trust, culpable violation of the Constitution, and a commission of high crime over the following deeds:

• Duterte's admission, done in a public broadcast, of contracting an assassin to kill Marcos, First Lady Liza Marcos and then-Speaker Martin Romualdez;
• misuse and malversation of her confidential funds as vice president and then Department of Education secretary;
• causing the distribution of monetary gifts to Department of Education officials holding procurement-related functions;
• massing of unexplained wealth and failure to disclose all her properties and interests in properties in her Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth; and
• being involved in the extrajudicial killings of the Davao Death Squad during her tenure as mayor of Davao City.

Duterte on Saturday, Feb. 7, slammed the second impeachment complaint filed against her, saying it has no attached evidence proving the allegations against her.

“Ang impeachment complaint na inendorso ng Akbayan ay isang papel na walang kalakip na kahit anong ebidensiyang magpapatunay sa mga paratang na isinasaad dito,” she said.

(The impeachment complaint endorsed by Akbayan was a paper without any attached evidence that will prove the allegations it pertained.)

“Hindi na ito bago. Matatandaan na ang impeachment laban sa akin ang naging sagot nila sa aking pag-alis sa Gabinete—isang hakbang na isinagawa dahil hindi na maipaliwanag ng Pangulo ang patuloy na pagkalugmok ng bayan sa kahirapan dulot ng kanyang kapabayaan at bisyo,” she added.

(This is not new. To recall, impeachment complaint was their response to me when I left the Cabinet— a move I did because the President can no longer explain the country’s continuous fall into poverty resulting from his negligence and vices.)

In a statement, Akbayan president Rafaela David ridiculed Duterte’s release of a video message, saying that while the vice president calls the complaint as something that has no merit, “it rattled her enough to release a video message.”

READ: TIMELINE: Impeachment proceedings vs. Vice President Sara Duterte

—KG, GMA Integrated News