THE House Committee on Justice next week will look into whether the impeachment complaints filed against Vice President Sara Duterte are sufficient in form.
“We are dedicating Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday as our initial hearing dates for the impeachment complaints against the vice president,” Batangas 2nd District Rep. Gerville Luistro, the chairman of the committee, said in an interview at the House of Representatives on Tuesday.
Luistro said if the committee finishes the deliberation on March 2, it will proceed to sufficiency in substance on the next day.
During plenary session on Monday, the House referred the four impeachment complaints filed against Duterte to the committee.
The last complaint was filed last Feb. 18 by lawyer Nathaniel Cabrera and was endorsed by Manila 6th District Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr., chairman of the House Committee on Human Rights, and Deputy Speaker and La Union 1st District Rep. Francisco Paolo Ortega V.
Cabrera said Article II of the complaint alleges that Duterte “betrayed the public trust and committed acts of graft and corruption by grossly abusing discretionary authority over confidential funds appropriated to the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and Department of Education (DepEd)” which she led as secretary before she resigned in 2024 from that post.
The complainant also alleged culpable violation of the Constitution and other high crimes.
The Makabayan bloc — composed of ACT Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio, Gabriela Women’s Party Rep. Sarah Elago, and Kabataan Rep. Renee Co — earlier this month endorsed a separate impeachment complaint against Duterte, filed by former lawmakers France Castro and Arlene Brosas. They alleged betrayal of public trust in connection with confidential funds.
Also earlier this month, concerned citizens filed an impeachment complaint, which Mamamayang Liberal Rep. Leila de Lima endorsed, against Duterte. The complaint stemmed from the alleged misuse and malversation of confidential funds as vice president and also during her time as DepEd secretary.
“We are prepared to confront these allegations squarely through the proper constitutional processes, confident that a fair and impartial review will demonstrate that the accusations are devoid of both factual and legal basis,” lawyer Michael Poa, speaking for Duterte’s defense team, said in a statement on Feb. 2, 2026, on the first two impeachment complaints.
The third impeachment complaint, endorsed by de Lima, was filed against Duterte on Feb. 9, 2026. The complainants, which included priests and lawyers, alleged, among others, that Duterte committed culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayed public trust in connection with confidential funds allocated to the OVP for 2022 and 2023 and confidential funds allocated for 2023 to the DepEd.
