First impeachment complaint vs VP Sara filed at House

Vice President Sara Duterte

MANILA, Philippines — The first impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte was filed by civil society organizations before the House of Representatives’ Office of the Secretary General Monday afternoon.

The impeachment complaint crafted by religious leaders, sectoral representatives, and families of drug war victims was endorsed by Akbayan party-list Rep. Percival Cendaña before 3:00 p.m.

“Today, I formally endorse the first-ever and historic impeachment complaint filed by our citizens against Vice President Sara Duterte,” Cendaña said in a statement handed out to reporters before the filing.

The complainants were accompanied by former senator Leila de Lima, former Quezon City lawmaker Jose Christopher Belmonte, former presidential peace adviser Ging Deles, Catholic priests Robert Reyes and Flavie Villanueva, and members of the Magdalo group.

Duterte has been the subject of impeachment talks, ever since the House committee on good government and public accountability discovered different issues at the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd) — two offices under her.

Last November 25, it was revealed at the panel’s hearings that the special disbursing officers of OVP and DepEd left the disbursement of CFs to security officers — a move that 1-Rider party-list Rep. Ramon Rodrigo Gutierrez believes can be tantamount to technical malversation.

Prior to this, the panel discovered possible irregularities in the acknowledgement receipts (ARs) for OVP and DepEd’s confidential fund (CF) expenses. 

For the OVP, one of the ARs bore the name Mary Grace Piattos — which Antipolo 2nd District Rep. Romeo Acop said is a name similar to a restaurant and a potato chip brand.

Then, lawmakers also found out that there was an instance where a certain Kokoy Villamin received CFs from OVP and DepEd, but used different signatures.

Calls for Duterte’s impeachment mounted after the said that she has contracted an assassin to kill President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos, and House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, if she gets assassinated.

Duterte’s outburst came after she visited Undersecretary Zuleika Lopez, her chief-of-staff who was detained at the House premises. 

After this visit, Duterte locked herself inside the office of her brother, Davao City 1st District Rep. Paolo Duterte.

Due to the security problems that came with Duterte staying inside the Batasang Pambansa, the House committee on good government and public accountability decided to transfer Lopez to the Correctional Institute for Women.

After this, Duterte held a press briefing where made the death threat.