LIVE UPDATES: VP Sara Duterte impeachment hearing (March 25, 2026)

Vice President Sara Duterte is in the country even as she decided not to attend the first hearing of the House justice committee on the impeachment complaints against her, her lawyer Michael Poa said on Wednesday. 

Poa, spokesperson of Duterte’s defense team, said this in a press conference, as he insisted that the Vice President is not obligated to personally attend the House impeachment proceedings.

“The Vice President is, of course, in the Philippines. I’m not at liberty to disclose kung nasaan siya kasi (where she is) for security reasons, but she always has daily engagements,” he said.

The House justice committee on Justice on Wednesday issued a subpoena for lawyer Michael Poa, Vice President Sara Duterte’s chief of staff when she was secretary of the Department of Education (DepEd).

A total of 34 members voted in favor of ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio’s motion while three voted in the negative.

The House justice committee formally sought Wednesday the testimony of lawyer Gloria Camora of the Commission on Audit’s Intelligence and Confidential Funds Audit Office (COA-ICFAO), as well as the COA-ICFAO’s findings on the use of confidential funds by Office of the Vice President and during the Sara Duterte’s tenure as Education chief.

This developed after the House panel approved the motion put forward by House Deputy Minority Leader Leila de Lima of ML party-list during Day 1 of the impeachment hearing which seeks to determine probable cause to impeach the Vice President.

The House justice committee has issued a subpoena or compelled the submission of the Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net (SALN) worth of Vice President Sara Duterte during her tenure as Davao City mayor and as Vice President.

This developed after the House justice panel, with 34 yes votes, one no vote, and zero abstention, approved the motion put forward by House good government and public accountability panel committee chairperson and Manila Third District Rep. Joel Chua to issue subpoena duces tecum to the Office of the Ombudsman for the submission of the SALNs of the Vice President in the following years:

• 2007 to 2013
• 2016 to 2022 and
• 2022 to 2025.

The subpoena was issued since the Ombudsman’s office is the repository of the Vice President's SALN.

House justice committee chairperson Gerville Luistro questioned Wednesday Vice President Sara Duterte’s faithfulness to her oath of office to follow the Constitution amid her absence in the impeachment proceedings.

Luistro made the position during Day 1 of the hearing of the evidence concerning the two impeachment complaints leveled against the Vice President, saying that the latter's absence was not exactly in line with her previous statements that she is ready to face the charges against her. 

Vice President Sara Duterte on Wednesday did not attend the initial hearing of the House committee on justice on the impeachment complaints against her, insisting that no policy requires respondents to do so. 

In a statement, Duterte said she would rather spend her time helping people affected by the soaring prices of petroleum products than attend the hearing, which she claimed the House of Representatives is only using to conduct a “third fishing expedition” against her.

A seat has been reserved for Vice President Sara Duterte at the House Committee on Justice's hearing into the impeachment complaints filed against her on Wednesday, March 25, 2026, at the House of Representatives. Duterte's lawyers already informed the panel that she will not attend the hearing. TINA PANGANIBAN-PEREZ/GMA Integrated News

The House Committee on Justice on Wednesday, 10 a.m., begins its hearings on the impeachment complaints against Vice President Sara Duterte.

Wednesday, March 25, marks the first day of the House Committee on Justice's hearing on the impeachment complaints against Vice President Sara Duterte.

This was reached after the panel found the two impeachment complaints to be sufficient in form, substance, and grounds.

Batangas 2nd District Representative Gerville Luistro, the committee chairperson, described this stage as similar to the preliminary investigation phase in a criminal complaint.

During the hearing, the complainants and the defense are given the chance to present their respective documentary evidence and witnesses.

Luistro said the House justice panel will first have to resolve motions seeking to subpoena or compel the appearance of the witnesses and the production of documents considered as material evidence in the complaints. 

Unresolved motions

The motions put forward by opposition lawmakers include:

• Motion to subpoena the bank records, Statements of Assets and Liabilities and Net Worth (SALNs), tax returns, and other financial records of the Vice President,
• Motion to subpoena the findings of the House good government and public accountability panel during its 2024 inquiry on the budget use of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and Department of Education (DepEd) during Duterte’s term as Education Secretary,
• Motion to subpoena the Commission on Audit (COA) findings on the budget use of the OVP and DepEd under Duterte’s leadership, and
• Motion to place Ramil Madriaga, a confessed supposed bagman of the Vice President, under protective custody of the House justice committee, given that his sworn affidavit is part of the two impeachment complaints lodged against the Vice President.

Key allegations against Sara Duterte

The two impeachment complaints filed against the Vice President alleged that she committed betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of the Constitution due to the following deeds:

•     Threatening to kill President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. and his family during an online press briefing,
•     Alleged misuse of P612.5 million in confidential funds,
•     Alleged non-declaration of assets, and
•     Abuse of power and bribery using confidential funds.

Sara Duterte's answer

In its reply, Sara Duterte's camp asked the House justice panel to dismiss the impeachment complaints against her, saying the allegations were not impeachable offenses.  

“The impeachment complaints brazenly accuse the Vice President of entering into a supposed 'contract to kill' yet they fail to present any shred of proof that any such contract ever existed,” the reply read.

Her reply shrugged off the Notice of Disallowance (ND) issued by the Commission on Audit on the Office of the Vice President’s use of P73 million worth of confidential funds in 2022, saying the ND was still under appeal.

A notice of disallowance means that the expenditure is “either irregular, unnecessary, excessive, extravagant, or unconscionable."

The Vice President said the inclusion of the confessed bagman Ramil Madriaga in the impeachment complaints did not make the allegations any more credible because Madriaga is lying, and that she has since sued Madriaga for perjury.

“All told, there is nothing in the impeachment complaints that demonstrates any ultimate facts pointing to a coherent, credible account or narration of any impeachable conduct,” the reply read. 

Will Sara attend?

One of Duterte’s lawyers, Michael Poa, said on Tuesday that the Vice President will not attend the first hearing on the impeachment complaint against her on March 25.

Luistro said the House justice committee will still push through with its first hearing even as it received information that Duterte’s camp will not participate in the hearing.

Earlier in the day, Luistro said that whether to show up before the panel was up to the Vice President to decide. —Llanesca T. Panti/JMA/NB/KG, GMA Integrated News