December 19, 2024 | 2:43pm
MANILA, Philippines — A day after Congress suspended its regular session, a third impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte was filed on Thursday, December 19.
The complaint was lodged by 12 complainants, including Catholic priests, lawyers and members of anti-corruption groups.
It was endorsed by two lawmakers, namely Rep. Gabriel Bordado (Camarines Sur, 3rd District) and Rep. Lex Colada (AAMBIS-OWA Party). Bordado is the House assistant minority leader, while Colada is the House deputy minority leader.
“This decision is not made lightly but with a deep sense of responsibility to ensure accountability at the highest levels of government,” Bordado said in a statement.
Similar to the two previously filed complaints, their grounds for impeaching Duterte included betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of the Constitution.
They referred to the House good government committee’s findings on the alleged mishandling of public funds under Duterte’s leadership of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and Department of Education (DepEd).
The committee has been investigating the OVP’s P500 million confidential fund expenditures in 2022 and 2023, as well as DepEd’s P112.5 million secret funds spent during the same period.
After wrapping up this year’s eight hearings, the good government panel is convinced that the irregularities they discovered in thousands of acknowledgment receipts points to a misuse of funds.
Some lawmakers were also skeptical of the named recipients and beneficiaries, especially after the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) verified that most had no birth records.
RELATED: No record of 60% of 677 alleged DepEd confidential fund recipients — PSA | More ‘Mary Grace Piattos’? Over 1,300 recipients of OVP’s confidential funds lack records — PSA
Reverend Father Joseito Sarabia, one of the complainants, told reporters that they believe Duterte had “committed something illegal and something immoral against the Filipino people.”
“For us, thou shall not kill, thou shall not steal, thou shall not bear false witness,” he added.
Meanwhile, the complainants’ legal counsel Amando Ligutan said in an ambush interview that the third impeachment complaint is different from the ones endorsed by Makabayan and Akabayan lawmakers.
According to him, the complainants believe that removing Duterte from office is “no longer just the legal and constitutional” duty of the House of Representatives and Senate.
“It has now become their moral obligation to do so. Not only legal, constitutional, it’s now their moral duty to do so,” Ligutan said.
Bordado clarified that the impeachment complaint is not “a partisan attack but a constitutional mechanism to address signficiant breaches of public trust.”
“Her inflammatory statements and apparent disregard for transparency and due process constitute grounds for impeachment,” Bordado added.
The first impeachment complaint was filed on December 2 by 16 individuals from sectoral groups and families of extrajudicial killings, citing four grounds for impeachment. This was endorsed by Rep. Perci Cedaña (Akbayan Party).
Two days later, December 4, the second impeachment complaint was put forward by over 70 people from civil society groups representing the marginalized such as labor, peasant, environmental and even student organizations.
They only cited betrayal of public trust as the one and overall ground, serving as an umbrella for the alleged abuse, misuse and wastage of funds.
It was endorsed by Rep. France Castro (ACT Teachers Party), Rep. Arlene Brosas (Gabriela Women’s Party) and Rep. Raoul Manuel (Kabataan Party).
The House of Representatives has 10 session days at most from its recipient of an impeachment complaint to include it in the plenary’s order of business.
They have three session days to refer it to the Committee on Justice for them to deliberate on the complaint’s soundness. Sessions are usually held from Monday to Wednesday.
Congress will resume its session on Jan. 13, 2025.
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