The impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte is one step away from being tried in the Senate, with the House justice committee unanimously approving on Monday the committee report finding probable cause to impeach her.
It took almost two hours before 55 members of the committee voted unanimously for the amended committee report and the attached resolution “setting forth the articles of impeachment” against the Vice President.
The documents will be transmitted to the House plenary and calendared “within 10 session days from receipt thereof,” Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro, the committee chair, said.
Earlier, the committee listened to and eventually approved the amendments on the report and the attached resolution by three members—Mamamayang Liberal Rep. Leila de Lima, Akbayan Rep. Chel Diokno, and ACT Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio. They proposed substantive and clerical changes to the committee report and the resolution.
After the approval of the proposed amendments, House Deputy Speaker David Suarez sought the members’ overall approval, and no one objected.
“This means this is unanimously approved,” Luistro said. But she sought nominal voting from the committee members for “purposes of accuracy” and “for the record,” and they raised their hands when asked to support the motion.
“Let it be placed on the record that 55 out of 55 justice committee members physically present manifested their support for the approval of the committee report and for the attached resolution,” Luistro said. “The chair declares the motion unanimously approved.”
Session adjourned
Luistro adjourned the session upon the motion of Iloilo Rep. Janet Garin, ending eight days of hearings marked with explosive allegations against Duterte, who snubbed the entire proceedings.
The approval of the amended committee report and resolution setting forth Duterte’s impeachment came a week after the panel found probable cause to impeach her.
In her opening statement, Luistro said the committee had accomplished and uncovered much from its eight hearings, which began on March 2.
After the committee found the two impeachment complaints against Duterte sufficient in form, substance, and grounds, Luistro noted, the Vice President’s camp responded with a 10-page document signed by her 16 lawyers. But her camp only “focused on technicalities” and “beat around the bush,” Luistro said.
She said the committee held marathon hearings from April 14 to 29, listening to testimony of resource persons and examining documents proving that Duterte had committed impeachable offenses.
Evidence heard and examined
“We heard the evidence, we examined the evidence,” Luistro said, adding that despite the “ups and downs,” the committee “never went sideways” and “honored” the constitutional process.
She cited the nine testimonies and documents that the committee had heard and examined, such as the testimony of Ramil Madriaga, who claimed to be Duterte’s bagman and who supposedly handled the alleged delivery of her confidential funds to certain parties.
There was also the disclosure by the Anti-Money Laundering Council of Duterte’s supposed ₱6.7 billion in bank transactions and its confirmation of some of the transactions mentioned by former senator Antonio Trillanes IV in his graft case against the Vice President, which involved money from an alleged drug lord.
On Duterte’s confidential funds, Luistro recounted the National Bureau of Investigation’s confirmation that the receipts submitted by the Office of the Vice President carried different signatures that appeared to be written by one and the same person. Likewise, the Philippine Statistics Authority told the committee that it has no record of the names of the signatories, including one Mary Grace Piattos.
Luistro mentioned the Commission on Audit’s directive for Duterte and key officials to return ₱73 million in confidential funds in 2022 and ₱375 million in confidential funds from February to September 2023.
The business interests of Duterte were found by the Securities and Exchange Commission to be not generating substantial income, Luistro said.
She also quoted De Lima’s summation of the threats made by the Vice President on the lives of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., first lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and then Speaker Martin Romualdez as showing the “real Sara Duterte”—furious and swearing in a video live-streamed on Nov. 23, 2024.
And for all the allegations raised and evidence presented against Duterte, the chair reserved for her at the hearings remained empty, Luistro said.
“But we have evidence that came from the Vice President herself. We have a sworn statement that she made, and that is her statement on assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN)—a document she signed, swore to, and submitted,” the lawmaker said, noting that in Duterte’s SALN, she did not include any cash on hand or cash deposits after a few years.
Luistro also said the committee had no reason to extend the hearings another day, given that the Vice President had refused to attend.
How far they’ve come
“Malayo pa pero malayo na rin,” Luistro said, apparently referring to the fact that while the impeachment case still needs a vote in the House plenary before it goes to trial in the Senate, the justice committee has made much progress.
She underscored the importance of the impeachment process to ensure accountability, which, she said, is also “what justice demands.”
“When a public official is accused of serious wrongdoing, we should not let them go. When they have to explain something, let us not stop until the truth comes out,” she said, adding:
“Let us, therefore, move forward with heavy hearts but clear minds. If the Vice President is guilty, let the truth convict her. If she is innocent, let the process clear her. But let it be done through the light of justice, not the shadows of silence.”
Malacañang earlier announced that it had approved Duterte’s request to be allowed to travel to South Korea and Europe from May 2 to 15. It is not clear if she has already flown out. CS
