House committee chair: 2 possible grounds for VP Duterte impeachment

Vice President Sara Z. Duterte —Inquirer photo/Lyn Rillon

MANILA, Philippines — The head of the House committee investigating the alleged mishandling of public funds in the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd) said it had come up with two possible grounds—graft and corruption and betrayal of public trust—for impeaching Vice President Sara Duterte.

In a statement on Monday, Manila Rep. Joel Chua, chair of the House committee on good government and public accountability, said the panel arrived at these points based on the documents and testimonies presented.

Still, Chua maintained that the inquiry was conducted in aid of legislation, “not for the purpose of impeaching” Duterte, and that she still had the opportunity to refute the allegations against her.

“Right from the very beginning, it was [Duterte] who has been mentioning [an alleged impeachment plot]. I’m just doing my job because [the matter] was referred to my committee,” he said.

“Isn’t this already a betrayal of public trust?” Chua said. “You were entrusted with funds and you didn’t use them properly as directed?”

Chua cited “shocking” findings that the OVP spent P125 million in confidential funds in just 11 days in December 2022, as well as the alleged DepEd spending of P15 million in confidential funds for youth training programs.

He also cited the P16 million spent by the OVP on overpriced “safe houses.”

He noted that the Commission on Audit (COA) issued a notice of disallowance for P73.28 million of the P125 million in confidential funds for their improper use and that COA had directed Duterte and other OVP officials to settle the disallowed amount.

Chua added that contrary to the DepEd’s claim that P15 million was spent for youth training summits in 2023 through the Philippine Army, military officials and representatives of local governments clarified that no fund for the program was sourced from the DepEd.

“The P16 million for the rental of safe houses, there were no details. We don’t know if this was really used for rentals [of 34 safe houses],” he added.

Based on the records, the OVP made payments from P250,000 to P1 million per property between Dec. 21 and 31, 2022.

He noted that the acknowledgment receipts for the rentals were unsigned, had illegible, missing names or only included signatures, and lacked supporting documents such as lease contracts. —Jeannette I. Andrade