PH groups file impeachment complaint vs. VP Sara Duterte
Several organizations have filed the first impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte on Monday, Dec. 2.
Akbayan party-list Rep. Perci Cendaña endorsed the complaint filed by civil society organizations, religious groups, and families of tokhang victims in the Secretary General’s Office at the House of Representatives. He was accompanied by former senator Leila de Lima.
“Panahon na para isara ng taumbayan ang bangungot na dulot ni Sara. Vice President Duterte deserves to be impeached for her abuse of power and plunder of the nation’s coffers,” Cendaña said in a statement.
“The Filipino people deserve a vice president who is ethical, accountable, and committed to public service—not one who weaponises authority for personal gain,” he added.
The House lawmaker added that the move is also a vital step to hold the vice president’s father—former president Rodrigo Duterte—and their allies to be held accountable for their alleged crimes.
“The Duterte regime’s bloody war on drugs claimed tens of thousands of lives, leaving behind a trail of grieving families demanding justice, closure, and healing. Such closure remains elusive while the perpetrators of these atrocities continue to evade accountability and cling to power,” Cendaña added.
De Lima echoed the statement, noting Duterte’s “disrespect” to the institutions and legal proceedings.
“Hindi na dapat maghari-harian ang mga Duterte o magkaroon ng espesyal na proteksyon sa ilalim ng batas. Hindi katanggap-tanggap na ang pangalawang pinakamataas na opisyal ng ating bansa ay nagpapakita ng pambabastos, pang-iinsulto, at kawalang respeto sa mga institusyon at mga proseso ng pananagutan,” she wrote in her Facebook post.
complaint filed against vice president Sara Duterte by various civil society organizations (CSOs),
religious leaders, sectoral representatives, and families of tokhang victims at theOffice of the Secretary General
inside the House of Representatives compound in Quezon City on Monday.
Miguel De Guzman / The Philippine STAR
This came a few days after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. confirmed that he asked lawmakers not to pursue an impeachment case against Duterte amid the latter's attacks and threats against him.
“That’s really my opinion, this is not important. This [will] not make any difference to even one single Filipino life, so why waste time?” Marcos told the press on Friday, Nov. 29.
“What will happen if someone files an impeachment? It will tie down the House [of Representatives], it will tie down the Senate, it will just take up time and for what? For nothing,” he added.
“None of this will help improve a single Filipino life," he stressed. “As far as I’m concerned, it is a storm in a teacup.”
Duterte's attacks vs. Marcos
Duterte has been in hot water due to her alleged misuse of funds for her office and during her tenure as the Department of Education (DepEd) secretary.
She also made headlines after giving an expletive-laden rant against Marcos and his kin during a Zoom press conference on midnight of Nov. 23, where she accused First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos of funneling cash-filled envelopes through the DepEd. She also implied that Romualdez, during a plane ride, told her that the Marcoses were pilfering campaign funds.
What takes the cake is her unequivocal account of contracting a hitman to assassinate Marcos, his wife, and Romualdez if she were killed.
"May kinausap na ako na tao. Sinabi ko sa kanya, 'Pag pinatay ako, patayin mo si BBM, si Liza Araneta, at si Martin Romualdez. No joke. No joke,'" Duterte said in response to a commenter wishing for her safety. "Nagbilin na ako, Ma’am. 'Pag namatay ako, 'wag ka tumigil hanggang hindi mo mapapatay sila.' And then he said yes."
The following day, Malacañang said they were "acting on the Vice President’s clear and unequivocal statement that she had contracted an assassin to kill the President if an alleged plot against her succeeds."
Duterte, however, said in a statement on Tuesday, Nov. 26 that the “insistence” of the current administration that Marcos' life is "under active threat" is "ominous," calling the narrative "farce" and "imagined."
"There is absolutely no flesh on the bone, and despite the absence of a reliable investigation, authorities were quick to consider this a national security concern,” she noted.
According to her, common sense “should be enough for us to understand and accept that a supposed conditional act of revenge does not constitute an active threat.”
Later in the day, the National Bureau of Investigation served a subpoena to Duterte, compelling her to shed light on the investigation into threats she made against the President.
Duterte is also facing several complaints from the Philippine National Police (PNP), including direct assault, disobedience, and grave coercion, following a confrontation with the police on Nov. 23.
