Sara Duterte impeached by House of Representatives

The House of Representatives on Monday impeached Vice President Sara Duterte on allegations of culpable violation of the Constitution, graft and corruption, betrayal of public trust, bribery, and other high crimes.

The House plenary, for the second straight year, voted to impeach Duterte, this time with 257 yes votes, 25 no votes, and nine abstentions.

Only 106 yes votes were needed to satisfy the 1987 Constitution's requirement that one-third of the House membership be present to impeach an impeachable official.

The House of Representatives in 2025 voted to impeach Duterte with 215 yes votes, but the Supreme Court declared the impeachment void after the High Tribunal found it unconstitutional.

The House justice panel alleged that the Vice President committed the offenses 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 chief

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 statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth (SALN), including in her SALN 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 the former Speaker of the House and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez, by making grave threats, and by actively inciting sedition against the republic.

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

House justice committee chairperson and Batangas Gerville Luistro, in her sponsorship speech, said Vice President Sara Duterte should explain the P6.7 billion in bank transactions involving her and her husband, Manases Carpio, which were not declared in their joint filing of Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN).

“May numero ba tayo? Mr. Speaker, distinguished colleagues. Opo. Meron po tayong numero. Ngunit ang numerong tinutukoy ko ay hindi lamang bilang ng boto. Nasa records po ang numero. P6.7 billion. Iyan ang numerong kailangang maipaliwanag sa sambayanang Pilipino,” Luistro said.

“Iyan ang numerong hindi maaaring ibaon sa limot. Iyan ang numerong nagtatanong kung may mga bagay bang kinakailangang lubos na maipaliwanag sa sambayanang Pilipino," she added.

"At sa Senado, naroon ang pagkakataon ng Bise Presidente na sagutin nang buo ang bawat alegasyon, iharap ang kanyang ebidensya, at marinig ng buong sambayanan ang kanyang panig,” Luistro said.

Luistro then reiterated that the Articles of Impeachment are anchored on evidence, not gossip.

“Hawak po natin ngayon ang bunga ng mahabang proseso. Hindi ito nabuo sa isang gabi. Hindi ito produkto ng tsismis, galit, o sigaw sa social media. Bawat pahina ay may bigat. Bawat dokumento ay may implikasyon,” Luistro said.

Those lawmakers who voted no to the Vice President’s impeachment cited the will of their constituents.

“My vote is no, guided by my commitment to listen to the voice and sentiments of the majority of my constituents in the 2nd District of Bohol,” Bohol Rep. Maria Vanessa Aumentado said.

“Mr. Speaker, my vote is no. As representatives of the people, we do not speak only for ourselves in this chamber. We carry the voices, concerns, and aspirations of the people we represent," General Santos City Rep. Shirlyn Bañas-Nograles of the Lone District of General Santos City said.

"After careful consideration of the facts, arguments, the quiet call of fairness that must guide this chamber, and the sentiments of my constituents, I rise today to cast my vote,” she added.

Further, Bañas-Nograles said that the voting in favor of the impeachment of the Vice President runs counter to the will of the 32 million who voted for her for vice president in the 2022 polls.

"We must also recognize that the Office of the Vice President carries the sovereign mandate of nearly 32 million Filipinos. Any effort to remove its occupant must respect the will of the electorate. For any democracy, legitimacy is ultimately rooted in the voice of the people,” Bañas-Nograles said.

“Vox Populi, Vox Dei,” Bañas-Nograles added.

(The voice of the people is the voice of God.) –NB, GMA News