By Adrian H. Halili, Reporter

A FOURTH impeachment complaint against Vice-President (VP) Sara Duterte-Carpio has been sent to the Office of the Speaker after it was received by the House of Representatives.

House Secretary-General Cheloy E. Velicaria-Garafil said her office received the 72-page complaint at 6:34 p.m. on Wednesday and transmitted it on Thursday to Speaker Faustino G. Dy III, in line with House rules.

“The Office of the Secretary General’s role is purely ministerial, confined to receiving and transmitting pleadings and documents filed with the House,” she said in a statement.

Lawyer Nathaniel G. Cabrera filed the complaint on Feb. 19. It alleges that the Vice-President failed to fully disclose assets in her statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) and may have amassed wealth disproportionate to her lawful income.

Mr. Cabrera is seeking a forensic review of bank records, property transfers and other financial documents to determine whether public funds were converted into private assets and whether her declared net worth accurately reflects her financial position.

The complaint was endorsed by Deputy Speaker Francisco Paolo P. Ortega V and Manila Rep. Bienvenido “Benny” M. Abante, Jr., who heads the House Committee on Human Rights.

It alleges that certain assets, bank accounts, cash holdings and property transactions were omitted, understated or not fully reflected in the Vice-President’s SALNs.

Mr. Ortega said the allegations warrant congressional scrutiny but stressed that endorsement of the complaint does not amount to a finding of guilt.

“This is not a conviction,” he said in a separate statement. “This is a process. When there are sworn statements about large cash transfers and serious red flags in asset declarations, the House cannot look away.”

He added that a declared plan to run for President in 2028 would not affect impeachment proceedings.

“The Constitution is not suspended because someone declares candidacy,” he said. “If there is nothing to hide, transparency should not be feared.”

Mr. Ortega also cited unresolved issues surrounding confidential and intelligence funds as part of broader governance concerns.

Three earlier verified complaints alleging unexplained wealth, misuse of public funds and threats against the President and his family are awaiting plenary action.

Under the Constitution, impeachable offenses include culpable violation of the Constitution, treason, bribery, graft and corruption, other high crimes and betrayal of public trust. Ms. Duterte has denied wrongdoing.

The Vice-President was impeached by the House last year after more than a third of lawmakers backed a complaint that was sent to the Senate. The Supreme Court later voided the proceedings, ruling that constitutional rules were violated when earlier complaints were bypassed.

Ms. Duterte on Wednesday said she would run for President in 2028, becoming the first major political figure to declare her intention to seek the country’s top post amid an escalating feud with President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos, Jr.

The 1987 Constitution limits Mr. Marcos to a single six-year term, and he has yet to endorse a successor.

Before announcing her presidential ambition, Ms. Duterte said running with Mr. Marcos in 2022 was a mistake, accusing him of failing to fulfill his campaign promises and of being complicit in what she described as a large-scale corruption scheme involving the 2025 national budget.

The rift between Mr. Marcos and Ms. Duterte has widened in recent months following policy disagreements and political tensions between their camps.

The political dispute has also unfolded against the backdrop of the arrest of her father, former President Rodrigo R. Duterte, by the International Criminal Court over charges of crimes against humanity related to his anti-drug campaign.

SENATORS from the minority bloc have filed a resolution urging Philippine authorities to ensure Filipinos are first afforded due process in local courts before being surrendered to international tribunals, amid reports of possible arrest warrants from the International Criminal Court (ICC).

“It is the sense of the Senate of the Philippines to protect all Filipinos against extraordinary rendition and guarantee them a reasonable time prior to their surrender by or extradition from the Philippines to seek redress from the courts and avail of legal remedies,” Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter S. Cayetano said in a statement, citing Senate Resolution No. 307. A copy of the resolution was not immediately available.

Mr. Cayetano said compliance with international arrest orders must still pass through the country’s legal system.

“If the interpretation is that when there is an arrest order from the ICC or any international court, we will immediately pick it up and take it to another country, it is very dangerous,” he said. “This is not just a matter of one person — it is a matter of our sovereignty and our constitutional framework.”

The resolution comes after the ICC identified several high-profile figures as co-perpetrators in former President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s anti-drug campaign. Among those named were Senators Ronald “Bato” M. dela Rosa and Christopher Lawrence “Bong” T. Go, both allies of Mr. Duterte.

The former President was arrested last year by the International Criminal Police Organization following an ICC warrant and is detained in The Hague, Netherlands, facing charges of crimes against humanity. The Philippines withdrew from the ICC in 2018, with its exit taking effect in 2019.

The minority bloc said the naming of Mr. Go and Mr. dela Rosa in ICC documents makes them vulnerable to extradition without a hearing, stressing that the state must ensure access to legal remedies before any surrender.

“Due process and the rule of law should not be sacrificed at the altar of a blind pursuit of justice,” according to the statement.

Also mentioned in court documents were former Justice Secretary Vitaliano N. Aguirre II; former Philippine National Police chiefs Vicente D. Danao, Jr., Camilo P. Cascolan and Oscar D. Albayalde; ex-National Bureau of Investigation chief Dante A. Gierran; and former Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency head Isidro S. Lapeña.

Mr. Aguirre and Mr. Go have denied the allegations. Mr. dela Rosa has not attended Senate sessions since Nov. 11, 2025, when reports of a possible warrant first surfaced. The ICC has yet to issue arrest warrants against the senators. — Adrian H. Halili

THE House of Representatives is moving to pass a bill banning political dynasties by the end of March, aiming to include the measure in President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) in July, a lawmaker said on Thursday.

Lanao del Sur Rep. Ziaur-Rahman Alonto Adiong, who heads the House Suffrage and Electoral Reforms Committee, said congressional leaders are pressed for time to complete discussions on the long-pending measure, which the Marcos administration has flagged as a priority.

“The leadership wants this measure to be done before the Lenten break because they want the anti-political dynasty bill to be part of the SONA of the President,” he told reporters.

Congress is scheduled to adjourn by March 20 and will resume sessions on May 4.

House Senior Deputy Minority Leader Edgar R. Erice said the law must be enacted before 2027 to allow the Commission on Elections to draft implementing rules ahead of the 2028 elections.

Both the House and Senate are conducting public consultations on measures to bar members of political dynasties from seeking public office. Mr. Adiong said stakeholders’ inputs are key to shaping a “responsive and reflective version” of the law.

Senator Loren Regina B. Legarda filed the seventh anti-dynasty bill, Senate Bill No. 1854, which seeks to prevent spouses and relatives within the second civil degree of national or local officials from running in the same district, province, or city. The measure also bars simultaneous or successive candidacy of related people across levels of government.

“This proposed act does not seek to punish families, nor curtail the right of citizens to vote,” Ms. Legarda said in the bill’s explanatory note. “It aims to level the political playing field, expand meaningful electoral choice and restore the primacy of merit, competence and accountability in public service.”

Senate Electoral Reforms Chairperson Ana Theresia Hontiveros-Baraquel said the committee would review all seven bills, considering kinship limits, scope of prohibition and whether the ban should apply simultaneously or successively.

President Marcos has made curbing political dynasties a priority after public backlash over alleged funneling of billions of pesos to congressional districts, making the bill a key part of his governance reform agenda.

Efforts to pass anti-dynasty legislation in previous Congresses stalled, largely due to the Legislature’s dominance by political families.

Eight in 10 lawmakers belong to dynasties, according to the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism. — Adrian H. Halili