House urged to act on VP Sara Duterte impeachment complaints

Vice President Sara Z. Duterte (INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/LYN RILLON)

MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives should npw act on the impeachment complaints against Vice President Sara Duterte, lawmakers from the Makabayan bloc said on Friday.

In a joint statement, ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro, Gabriela party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas, and Kabataan party-list Rep. Raoul Manuel said that the third impeachment complaint against Duterte bolsters the call for accountability, particularly regarding issues with confidential fund (CF) expenditures.

The third petition, filed by religious leaders, was submitted to the office of House Secretary General Reginald Velasco on Thursday.

“We, the Makabayan bloc representatives, welcome the filing of the third impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte by religious groups, priests, and lawyers. This further strengthens the call for accountability regarding the questionable use of confidential funds,” Castro said.

“The filing of three separate impeachment complaints from various sectors of society shows the gravity of VP Sara Duterte’s misuse of P612 million in confidential funds. We can no longer allow this massive abuse of the country’s coffers,” she added, speaking in a mix of English and Filipino.

According to Brosas, letting days pass without action from the House leadership on the three impeachment complaints against Duterte leads to “another day of impunity.”

“We call on the House leadership to immediately act on all three impeachment complaints at the soonest possible time. Each day without us acting on these leads to another day of impunity.The Filipino people deserve to know the truth about how their hard-earned tax money was spent,” Brosas said.

Last December 2, 16 representatives of civil society organizations went to Velasco’s office to file the first impeachment complaint against Duterte.

The petitioners were accompanied by former senator Leila de Lima, while Akbayan party-list Rep. Percival Cendaña endorsed the complaint.

According to de Lima, mentioned in the complaints are claims that Duterte was responsible for CF misuse, the Vice President’s threats against ranking government officials, and her supposed involvement in extrajudicial killings (EJKs) when she was Davao City mayor.

Two days after, progressive groups led by Bagong Alyansang Makabayan filed another impeachment complaint, with betrayal of public trust used as an article of impeachment.