Third impeachment complaint filed against VP Sara Duterte

A third impeachment complaint has been filed against Vice President Sara Duterte.

Religious groups, legal professionals, and non-governmental organization workers have alleged the misuse of Duterte’s confidential funds in the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education as bases for the impeachment complaint.

The group's representative, Amando Virgil Ligutan, submitted the impeachment complaint to the office of House Secretary General Reginald Velasco at 11:45 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 19.

The complaint was endorsed by Camarines Representative Gabriel Bordado Jr. and AAMBIS-OWA Representative Lex Colada.

“On behalf of the Filipino people, complainants believe that it is not only the constitutional obligation of the members of the House of Representatives to impeach, and for the Senate to remove from office, Vice President Sara Z. Duterte. That obligation now becomes a moral one,” the document read.

Fr. Joselito Sarabia stated the reason behind the complaint against Duterte. "We believe VP Sara committed something illegal and something immoral against the Filipino people. For us, thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness," he told reporters.

Duterte has been in hot water for months for the alleged misuse of funds for her offices' programs and her refusal to answer questions regarding her offices' expenses, particularly the confidential funds worth P775 million for the OVP and DepEd during her budget proposal's first hearing.

She was seeking a P2.037-billion budget for 2025, which was cut to P733 million. Her office has a P1.885-billion budget for 2024. 

As a result of these issues, Duterte is now facing several legal woes, including two impeachment raps as well as complaints of direct assault, disobedience, and grave coercion filed by the Philippine National Police.