VP Duterte asks House panel to dismiss ouster raps over weak evidence

VICE-PRESIDENT (VP) Sara Duterte-Carpio on Monday asked a House of Representatives committee to dismiss the impeachment charges against her, saying the allegations lacked evidence and were based on speculation.

The two complaints that the House Justice Committee passed in its preliminary review “recycle the same accusations” against Ms. Duterte from last year’s impeachment and lacked any statement of “ultimate facts” that she could respond to, according to a copy of her 13-page response shared with reporters.

“Since no wrongdoing has been established with proof by the complainants, they simply cannot rush to the conclusion that the Vice-President is ultimately responsible for them,” she said.

In early March, the committee found two of four complaints against Ms. Duterte sufficient in substance, moving them to the next stage of the impeachment process that will determine whether the charges have merit and should be discussed further by the 39-member panel.

The Vice-President faces a range of accusations, including claims she misused hundreds of millions of pesos in secret funds under the Office of the Vice-President and the Education department during her time as its secretary.

The complaints also include accusations she amassed wealth disproportionate to her income, efforts to destabilize the government and plotting to assassinate President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr., his wife and former Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez, charges which she has denied.

“Aside from self-serving assertions and sweeping legal conclusions, the impeachment complaints contain nothing anchored in any concrete, established facts supported by law,” Ms. Duterte said.

She also said lawmakers applied “double standards” in handling the complaints against her, arguing they were biased compared with the dismissal of similar ouster complaints earlier filed against Mr. Marcos.

“The committee failed to observe the basic tenets of fair play and due process, where double standards were employed in dealing with the impeachment complaints against President Marcos, Jr. and the Vice-President, resulting in arbitrary government action,” she said.

Mr. Marcos in February survived an impeachment bid which accused him of corruption, violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust after the Justice committee dismissed the allegations as lacking merit.

The dismissed complaints alleged that Mr. Marcos had benefited from questionable government contracts linked to defective infrastructure projects, receiving kickbacks and institutionalized corruption through a budget allocation formula for congressional districts.

“It appears… that the serious accusations against the President and other high-ranking public officials were summarily disregarded,” Ms. Duterte said. “This unequal treatment reflects an uneven application of standards and scrutiny in the determination of sufficiency in form and substance of the complaints against the Vice-President.”

Party-list Rep. Terry L. Ridon, a member of the Justice committee, said Ms. Duterte did not directly respond to the charges against her.

“Instead of responding directly to the charges, it attempts to challenge the impeachment proceedings itself based on a confused interpretation of due process and the concept of ultimate facts in impeachment cases,” he said in a statement.

“The submission does not specifically and completely rebut the material allegations raised in the complaints,” he added.

The renewed impeachment effort against Ms. Duterte comes as she declared her intention to run for President in 2028, a move that could put her political standing to the test. She is the daughter of former President Rodrigo R. Duterte, whose strong support base remains influential.

Impeachment proceedings against the Vice-President were revived after the Supreme Court blocked attempts in 2025 for violating procedural rules. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio