VP Sara Duterte might face 4th impeachment rap – House

Vice President Sara Duterte — GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

MANILA, Philippines — There is a possibility that a fourth impeachment complaint will be filed against Vice President Sara Duterte once office work in the House of Representatives resumes, Secretary General Reginald Velasco said on Thursday.

INQUIRER.net asked Velasco if his office has received feelers about a fourth impeachment complaint being filed against Duterte before the House. Velasco confirmed this, adding that some lawmakers also want to endorse one of the three complaints filed last December 2024.

“Yes, some House members have told me in confidence that they are thinking of endorsing one of the three impeachment complaints filed earlier or another complaint,” he said.

Velasco, however, declined to give the names of the lawmakers who wanted to endorse the raps against Duterte.

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 the complaint was endorsed by Akbayan party-list Rep. Percival Cendaña.

According to de Lima, mentioned in the complaints are claims that Duterte was responsible for confidential fund (CF) misuse and the Vice President’s threats to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., first lady Liza Araneta Marcos, and House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez.

The CF issues that de Lima was referring to are the discoveries made by the House committee on good government and public accountability, like the admission of the special disbursing officers of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd) that they left the disbursement of secret funds to security officers.

READ: Solon: SDO’s move to give up fund release role may lead to malversation

Last November 23, Duterte bared during an online press briefing that she talked to someone about killing President Marcos and his wife and Romualdez in case she gets assassinated.

READ: Sara Duterte’s kill remark vs Marcos is ‘active threat’ – Palace

On December 4, progressive groups led by Bagong Alyansang Makabayan filed the second impeachment complaint, with betrayal of public trust as an article of impeachment.

READ: VP Sara Duterte faces 2nd impeachment rap

Last December, Velasco admitted that the impeachment complaints were still with his office.

According to the rules, the House Secretary General and the Speaker have 10 session days to act on the impeachment complaint before it is forwarded to the House committee on rules, which will then refer it to the committee on justice during a plenary session.

With the session adjourning last December 18, there were only nine session days since the first complaint was filed. Congressional sessions would resume on January 13.

READ: After impeachment rap filed vs VP Duterte, what’s next?

The OVP and the DepEd under Duterte have been the subject of a House investigation due to questions on how their CFs were utilized.

Some of the questions centered on acknowledgment receipts (ARs) for the CFs, as these were signed by a certain Mary Grace Piattos whom Antipolo 2nd District Rep. Romeo Acop said bears a first name similar to a coffee shop and a last name that is a famous potato chip brand.

The ARs signed off by Piattos were part of the liquidation reports discussed during the House hearing on the P23.8-million confidential funds covered by 158 receipts.

Eventually, the Philippine Statistics Authority confirmed that the name Mary Grace Piattos does not appear on their live birth, marriage, and death registry.

READ: ‘Mary Grace Piattos’ does not exist, PSA confirms

Prior to that, Duterte also attracted controversy as she refused to directly address CF-related questions at budget deliberations last August 27.

In the subsequent hearing, Duterte and OVP representatives did not attend. Kabataan party-list Rep. Raoul Manuel said it was tantamount to betrayal of public trust.

READ: Sara Duterte, OVP rep no-show yet at House plenary debate on budget