House impeaches VP Duterte, paves the way for her trial by Senate court

By Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio, Reporter

THE House of Representatives on Wednesday impeached Philippine Vice-President (VP) Sara Duterte-Carpio for alleged abuse of power and constitutional violations stemming from her use of confidential funds, paving the way for her trial by the Senate.

The impeachment complaint against Ms. Duterte, daughter of former President Rodrigo R. Duterte, was filed and signed by 215 congressmen, more than the one-third legal requirement before it can be sent to the 23-member Senate, which will try her as an impeachment court. Several congressmen will act as prosecutors.

The House delivered a quick and stunning blow against the estranged vice-president, who has denied wrongdoing, allowing it to send the ouster charges immediately to the Senate without further hearings.

Her office did not immediately reply to separate Viber message and e-mail seeking comment.

“The undersigned members of the House of Representatives, comprising at least one-third of the lower chamber of the 19th Congress, and as representatives of the Filipino people, cannot, and will not remain silent or indifferent,” according to a copy of the complaint.

Her impeachment is a major setback for the influential Duterte family, whose popularity grew rapidly after Rodrigo R. Duterte was swept to power in 2016 as a maverick, crime-busting mayor. As President, he upended Philippine foreign policy and launched a drug war that killed thousands.

Ms. Duterte is the fourth Philippine official to be impeached or charged with misconduct after ex-President Joseph E. Estrada in 2000, Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez in March 2011 and Chief Justice Renato Corona in December 2011.

Mr. Estrada and Mr. Corona were both convicted and removed from office by the Senate on corruption charges, while Ms. Gutierrez resigned before she could be tried. Chief Justice Maria Lourdes P.A. Sereno was ousted by the Supreme Court in 2018 amid impeachment proceedings before a House committee.

Congressmen sent the bill of the impeachment complaint to the Senate on the last day of the congressional session, before lawmakers take a four-month break for the midterm elections in May. Filipinos will pick a new set of congressmen, 12 of the 24-member Senate and other local government officials on May 12.

President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. could call for a special session to allow the Senate to hold the impeachment trial despite being on a legislative break, according to the 1987 Constitution.

The ouster charges consisted of seven articles of impeachment, including allegations of plotting the assassination of the President, misusing secret funds, amassing unexplained wealth and committing acts of destabilization.

‘WOEFULLY SHORT’
“Respondent Ms. Duterte’s conduct throughout her tenure clearly displays gross faithlessness against public trust and a tyrannical abuse of power that, taken together, showcases her gross unfitness to hold public office and her infidelity to the laws and the 1987 Constitution,” according to a copy of the complaint.

“She has not only conducted herself in a manner contrary to, and woefully short of the lofty standards to which we hold our public officials, she has also clearly and blatantly committed culpable violations of the Constitution, betrayed the public trust, engaged in graft and corruption and committed other high crimes.”

“This is about upholding the Constitution and ensuring that no public official, regardless of their position, is above the law,” Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez said in a separate statement.

The Vice-President’s impeachment marks the peak in the escalating political conflict between two of the country’s most influential clans. The falling out of the Dutertes and Marcoses has resulted in the shattering of what was once a formidable political alliance that gave them landslide wins in the 2022 elections.

The quarrel between the Marcos and Duterte families reached a climax when Ms. Duterte in a November news briefing said she had hired an assassin to kill Mr. Marcos, his wife and the Speaker, in case she herself were killed. She later said her remarks had been taken out of context.

The President has dissuaded the House from pursuing her impeachment.

The House should have acted on the impeachment complaints when they were first filed, said Arjan P. Aguirre, who teaches political science at the Ateneo de Manila University.

“Had they pushed this in December 2024, this would have at least had a veneer of legitimacy since it was pushed right after the filing of the first impeachment complaint,” he said in a Facebook Messenger chat.

Civil society groups, activists and clergymen separately slapped Ms. Duterte with three impeachment complaints in December. They accused her of betraying the public trust arising for her alleged misuse of P612.5 million worth of confidential and intelligence funds.

“It will be easy for critics, and even Ms. Duterte herself to question the motive of such a sudden decision to proceed with the impeachment,” Mr. Aguirre said.

He added that the House leadership, led by Mr. Romualdez, the President’s cousin, pushed Ms. Duterte’s impeachment in the absence of a “clear successor” to Mr. Marcos for the 2028 presidential election.

“We urge that the trial be promptly scheduled in the Senate,” Neri J. Colmenares, a party-list nominee in the midterm elections, said in a statement after Ms. Duterte’s impeachment.

Senators are likely lukewarm to the idea of convicting Ms. Duterte, Mr. Aguirre said. “They cannot afford to antagonize Ms. Duterte, who is a presidential contender.”

The Dutertes have some allies in the Senate, including Mr. Duterte’s ex-police chief and former chief presidential aide. At least 16 votes are needed to convict her.

Her trial could give reelectionists a platform where they could either appeal to her supporters or detractors, Anthony Lawrence A. Borja, an associate political science professor at De La Salle University, said in a Facebook Messenger chat.

A January Social Weather Stations poll found that four of 10 Filipinos support efforts to remove Ms. Duterte from office. — with Norman P. Aquino