At least 200 House members want VP Duterte impeached, solons say

At least 200 lawmakers of the House of Representatives are expected to vote to impeach Vice President Sara Duterte, two members of the House justice committee said on Thursday.

Tingog Party-list Rep. Jude Acidre and Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Terry Ridon made the announcement a day after the Articles of Impeachment was calendared under the House’s Order of Business and its copies distributed to House members.

“Based on our monitoring, we’re going to hit the majority number... We’re hoping the result would be as much as or even higher than the impeachment last time, we’re hoping that at least 200 or 215, that’s really the goal,” Acidre said.

“As of now, I can confidently say it will be above 180,” he added, referring to vote estimates made earlier by House leaders, including House Deputy Speaker and Antipolo City 1st District Rep. Ronaldo Puno.

Acidre noted that some House members who were initially skeptical were eventually convinced after the clarificatory hearings revealed billions of pesos that were not declared in Duterte’s Statements of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALNs), among other revelations.

“A lot of people were convinced because of the evidence,” he said.

Ridon agreed with Acidre, noting that more than two-thirds of the House members are in favor of the impeachment of the Vice President at this point.

“From consultations, we are now at around 215 House members supporting the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte. This is now more than 2/3 of all House members, and approximates the total number of votes in last year’s impeachment plenary vote,” Ridon said.

He was referring to the impeachment complaint lodged against Duterte in 2025 which did not undergo committee deliberations.

This was because the constitutional requirement of at least one-third of all House members voting in favor of impeachment was already met.

In a recent committee report, the House justice panel alleged that the Vice President committed culpable violation of the Constitution, graft and corruption, betrayal of public trust, bribery and other high crimes, based on the following articles of impeachment:

a) Systematic misuse, misappropriation, and irregular liquidation of confidential funds amounting to P500 million released to the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and P112.5 million released to the Department of Education (DepEd) during her tenure as Education Secretary;

b) Amassing unexplained wealth manifestly disproportionate to her lawful income and earnings during her incumbency as a public official;

c) Failure to fully and truthfully disclose all her and her spouse’s assets, liabilities, and net worth in her SALNs for the years 2022, 2023, and 2024;

d) Failure to divest; and instead, willfully continued all her business interests during her tenure as Vice President for the years 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025;

e) Giving monetary gifts or payments to DepEd officials to induce the violation and circumvention of procurement and other related laws;

f) Contracting for the assassination of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Marcos, and former Speaker and Leyte 1st Rep. Martin Romualdez by making grave threats and by actively inciting sedition against the Republic.

Items a, e and f constitute Article 1, 3 and 4, while items b, c and d are all subsections of Article 2 of the Articles of Impeachment.

“These acts make it glaringly apparent that respondent is utterly unfit to hold public office, much less the second highest position in government. In fact, respondent conducts herself in a way that incites disorder and chaos to the organized government of the Republic of the Philippines,” the committee report read.

“The explicit threats against the life of the President and other high officials, her conduct that undermines and threatens democratic stability, combined with the misuse of confidential funds, acts of bribery and corruption of public officials, and SALN law violations, collectively demonstrate a consistent disregard for the duties of her office and the oath she swore to uphold,” the House justice committee added.

The Articles of Impeachment reached the House plenary on Tuesday, May 5, and was included in the House’s Order or Business on May 6, Wednesday, making it eligible for a House plenary vote.

The House plenary vote on the Articles of Impeachment against Duterte is expected to be conducted on May 11. — JMA, GMA News