House Committee on Justice Tackles Impeachment Raps vs. Vice Pres. Sara Duterte after 4 Complaints Filed
SARA DUTERTE – The House of Representatives set aside the first impeachment complaint filed against the Vice President.
Early this 2026, impeachment raps were filed against both Pres. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Vice Pres. Duterte. Amid their rift, two (2) impeachment complaints were filed against Marcos Jr. while four (4) impeach raps were filed against the Vice President before the House of Representatives’ Office of the Secretary General.
Last month, the House of Representatives affirmed the dismissal of the two (2) impeachment complaints filed against Marcos Jr. The impeach raps were allegedly sufficient in substance as per the House Committee on Justice.
Recently, the House Justice panel the first impeachment rap against Vice Pres. Sara Duterte. In the said complaint, the Vice President is accused of alleged betrayal of public trust.
One of the grounds mentioned in the said impeachment rap is the alleged misuse of the P625-million confidential funds of the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Office of the Vice President. Duterte and her camp claimed that they expected the filing of fresh impeachment complaints against the Vice President.
In the third impeachment complaint filed against Duterte, here are the grounds cited in the impeach rap:
- Alleged culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust, and other high crimes in amassing and converting the amount over PHP 500 million confidential funds (CF) allocated to the Office of the Vice President from 2022 to 2023
- Alleged culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust, and other high crimes in amassing and converting the amount of not less than PHP 112.5 million of confidential funds allocated to the Department of Education (DepEd) for the year 2023
- Alleged culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust by corrupting and bribing officials of the DepEd
- Alleged culpable violation of the Constitution, betrayal of public trust, and other high crimes in contracting to murder or assassinate the president, the first lady, and the former speaker of the House
- Alleged culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust in amassing unexplained wealth and failing to disclose all her properties and interests in properties in her SALN
- Alleged culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust in committing acts of political destabilization and the high crimes of sedition and insurrection
Today, the House Justice Committee tackled the first impeachment rap filed against Vice Pres. Sara Duterte. According to the Philippine Star, the panel decided to “set aside” the first impeachment rap against the Vice President.
With a 22-10 voting result, the House Committee on Justice set aside the first impeachment complaint against Duterte for violating the one-year rule ban. The same reason was cited by the Supreme Court before on a previous impeachment complaint that it found unconstitutional.
“With 22 votes in the affirmative, and 10 votes in the negative, with zero abstention, the chair sets aside the first impeachment complaint, De Castro et al impeachment complaint on the ground of violation of one-year prohibition period,” House justice committee chair Gerville Luistro said.
Based on the post, Luistro further added that setting aside an impeachment complaint means “it will no longer be included in the proceedings” of the panel. Previously, Vice Pres. Sara Duterte stressed the power of the impeachment amid the filing of complaints against her.