Lawyer of VP Sara Duterte Issues Clarification on Possible Impeachment Hearing
SARA DUTERTE – The camp of the Vice President clarified that “Mary Grace Piattos” will not be part of their defense.
Aside from President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Vice Pres. Duterte is also faced with two (2) impeachment complaints filed before the Office of the Secretary General of the House of Representatives. The first impeachment rap was filed by the Makabayan bloc.
Duterte’s accused of alleged betrayal of public trust and gross abuse of discretionary powers over the alleged misuse of the P625 million confidential funds of the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education when she was still the DepEd secretary.
The second impeachment complaint against Vice Pres. Sara Duterte was filed by the Tindig Pilipinas. It was endorsed by Mamamayang Liberal party-list Rep. Leila de Lima and Akbayan party-list Rep. Perci Cendaña. In the said complaint, the Vice President is accused of alleged culpable violations of the Constitution, graft and corruption, bribery, betrayal of public trust, and other high crimes.
The camp of Vice Pres. Sara Duterte previously stressed that they are prepared to confront the allegations. According to the Vice President, she has talked to her lawyers before the Christmas break and they really anticipate the filing of a fresh impeachment case against her.
In 2025, the Vice President was faced with an impeachment complaint but the Supreme Court ruled it as “unconstitutional”. According to the high court, the said impeachment rap violates the one-year ban rule and a fresh impeachment complaint may only be filed started February 6, 2026.
Following the decision of the Supreme Court, the Senate archived the impeachment complaint against Vice Pres. Sara Duterte. Nineteen senators voted in favor of archiving the impeachment rap:
YES
- Alan Peter Cayetano
- Pia Cayetano
- Ronald Dela Rosa
- JV Ejercito
- Francis Escudero
- Jinggoy Estrada
- Sherwin Gatchalian
- Bong Go
- Lito Lapid
- Loren Legarda
- Rodante Marcoleta
- Imee Marcos
- Robinhood Padilla
- Erwin Tulfo
- Raffy Tulfo
- Joel Villanueva
- Camille Villar
- Mark Villar
- Juan Miguel Zubiri
NO
- Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV
- Risa Hontiveros
- Francis Pangilinan
- Vicente “Tito” Sotto III
ABSTAIN
- Panfilo “Ping” Lacson
Recently, reports that Vice Pres. Sara Duterte will allegedly reveal the identity of “Mary Grace Piattos” if the impeachment trial proceeds circulated. The Vice President’s camp clarified the reports.
Atty. Michael Poa, the lead counsel of Vice Pres. Sara Duterte, clarified that “Mary Grace Piattos” will not be part of the defense of the Vice President in the impeachment complaints filed against her. Based on a report on GMA News, the lawyer called it “inaccurate”.
“For clarity, this is inaccurate. I have not made any such statement, nor have I confirmed or announced any such course of action,” Poa said.
Based on the report, the lawyer of Vice Pres. Duterte appealed to the members of the media to “avoid attributing statements or positions that were never made, in the interest of a fair public discussion”.
Recently, the OCTA Research released the results of its survey on the public trust and performance scores of Vice Pres. Sara Duterte.