Ortega hopes Lakas-CMD will back impeachment vs. VP Sara

House Deputy Speaker Paolo Ortega V of La Union is hopeful that his party-mates in the ruling Lakas-CMD party will support the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte, saying that the Vice President has been continuously evading questions about her use of her office’s confidential funds, among other alleged misdeeds.

Ortega, however, denied that Leyte Representative Martin Romualdez, the party president, is behind the filing of the fourth impeachment complaint against Duterte, which Ortega endorsed along with Manila Sixth District Representative Benny Abante.

“Kilala ninyo naman ako, kilala ninyo naman ang pinagdaanan natin noon, 19th Congress, as part of the Quad Committee, as part of the [House] Good Gov[ernment panel], so hindi na po siguro kailangan tanungin kung bakit inindorso ko itong fourth impeachment complaint. Iyong basis naman po ng mga complaints eh halos parehas po [noong] 19th Congress and I can’t speak for the entire party, but iyung basehan naman po niyan eh napag-usapan na po, matagal na po nadetalye ‘yang mga ‘yan,” Ortega said.

(You already know where I stand here, since 19th Congress. You don’t need to ask me why I endorsed the fourth complaint, which basis is also the same grounds cited in the impeachment complaint filed against her in the 19th Congress. We have long discussed the basis of the impeachment complaint and its the nitty gritty details.)

“Of course, we [are] expecting that Lakas would also support the fourth impeachment complaint. But as far as I know, the former Speaker is concentrating on his district. Recently nga po, meron kaming meeting, and we are concentrating on the priority bills [that the] party [is pushing for],” Ortega added.

The fourth impeachment complaint accuses the Vice President of betrayal of public trust, graft and corruption, bribery, other high crimes, among others mainly over the alleged misuse of P612.5 million of confidential funds and using them as bribes, and Duterte's apparent threat to kill President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. in an expletive-filled video. 

The Romualdez-led Lakas-CMD has at least 90 members and is the largest political party in the House and in the country. Once the House justice panel finds the impeachment complaint sufficient in form, substance and grounds, it would need 1/3 of all the House members for the impeachable official to be impeached and face trial before the Senate impeachment court. 

Asked if the fourth impeachment complaint had the go-signal of the former Speaker, Ortega replied, “Para bang sinabi kasi may basbas, sila po ‘yung pinaggalingan eh. Hindi po, sarili po naming desisyon ito.”

(When you say you are given the go-ahead, it is as if the action stemmed from the one who gave the go-ahead. That is not the case here. This is our decision.)

“Hindi naman po ako nagdalawang-isip kasi nga nakikita ko naman po na very strong po yung basis. At witness po kayo lahat dyan. Natalakay po lahat ito sa mga committees namin before. So parang no brainer naman po siya for me,” Ortega added.

(I did not think twice because I saw it is anchored on very solid grounds. And you have been a witness to all of them, and these were discussed in the committees. It is really a no brainer for me.)

Likewise, Ortega echoed Abante's earlier statement that the Vice President’s announcement of her 2028 presidential bid will not easily scare lawmakers into submission since the complaints will be discussed before the House Committee on Justice first, unlike the 2025 impeachment complaint.

The earlier complaint was endorsed by more than a third of the members of the House after House inquiries on the Vice President’s use of her office’s budget allocation revealed questionable acknowledgement receipts for the use of confidential fund and apparent fictitious names of fund recipients.

“Mas confident pa siguro ako now dahil uusisiiin siya sa committee level. So mas mapag-uusapan, mas mapag-debatehan, mas may-engage ‘yung mga different views from the different legislators. So confident ako na makukuha pa rin yung vote. We are all political animals at the end of the day. Tignan po nila yung merits ng impeachment, ng mga articles of impeachment, usisain, araling maigi, balikan nila ang nakaraang Kongreso,” Ortega said.  

(I am even more confident now because it will be discussed at the committee level. There will be more discussions, debates, and engagement from different legislators. I am confident that we can still get the vote needed. I ask my colleagues to look at the merits of the impeachment, study it thoroughly.)

“Kasi nga po at the end of the day ang amo natin ang taong bayan, hindi natin amo ang nakatayo dyan at mga tatayong politiko. Kasi ang pinagsisibihan natin, ang taong bayan. Yan ang pinakasimple at pinakatamang gawin.We get our mandate from our districts, from the people, and sa tingin ko hindi mahirap mag-decision when it comes to that,” he added.

(Because at the end of the day, we should be serving the people. We are not servants to public officials. We must serve the people because it is the right thing to do. We get our mandate from the people, so judging the merits of the impeachment complaint should not be a tough decision.) 

The four impeachment raps against the Vice President are already before the Office of Speaker Faustino "Bojie" Dy III and is expected to be calendared under Order of Business for plenary referral to House justice panel, according to Senior Deputy Majority Leader and Iloilo Third District Rep. Lorenz Defensor. — BM, GMA Integrated News