House Justice Panel Deliberates VP Sara Duterte Impeachment Complaints
SARA DUTERTE – House members Leila de Lima, Perci Cendaña, and Chel Diokno enjoyed the “Mary Grace” food product during the deliberation of the impeachment complaint against the Vice President.
In February, four impeachment complaints against the Vice President were filed before the House of Representatives’ Office of the Secretary General. The fourth impeachment complaint against Vice Pres. Sara Duterte was filed shortly after she announced that she will run for president in 2028.
The impeachment raps against Duterte were transmitted to the House Committee on Justice. However, the second impeachment rap that was filed by Tindig Pilipinas and was endorsed by Mamamayang Liberal Party-list Representative Leila de Lima and Akbayan Party-list Rep. Perci Cendaña was withdrawn by the complainants. It was allegedly to avoid procedural delays.
The complainants decided to support the third impeachment complaint against the Vice President. The third impeachment rap was filed by members of the Philippine clegy led by lawyer Armando Ligutan
In the third impeachment complaint against Vice Pres. Sara Duterte, the following grounds were raised:
- Alleged culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust, and other high crimes in amassing and converting the amount over PHP 500 million confidential funds (CF) allocated to the Office of the Vice President from 2022 to 2023
- Alleged culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust, and other high crimes in amassing and converting the amount of not less than PHP 112.5 million of confidential funds allocated to the Department of Education (DepEd) for the year 2023
- Alleged culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust by corrupting and bribing officials of the DepEd
- Alleged culpable violation of the Constitution, betrayal of public trust, and other high crimes in contracting to murder or assassinate the president, the first lady, and the former speaker of the House
- Alleged culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust in amassing unexplained wealth and failing to disclose all her properties and interests in properties in her SALN
- Alleged culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust in committing acts of political destabilization and the high crimes of sedition and insurrection
While the House Justice Committee set aside the first impeachment complaint against Duterte for violation of the one-year rule ban, two (2) impeachment complaints against Duterte were found sufficient in form and substance by the House panel.
Duterte’s camp claimed that they expected the filing of impeachment raps against the Vice President. They have tendered their response to the complaints. Recently, the House Justice Committee tackled the grounds in the impeachment raps against the Vice President.
Based on News5, at the deliberation of the impeachment complaints against Vice Pres. Sara Duterte, ML Party-list Rep. Leila de Lima, Akbayan Rep. Perci Cendaña, and Rep. Chel Diokno brought with them their “Mary Grace” food product.
Based on the post, “Mary Grace” is a popular Filipino bakery-cafe. To recall, the name “Mary Grace” also caught attention in the issues surrounding Vice Pres. Sara Duterte as one of the alleged recipients of the controversial confidential funds is “Mary Grace Piattos”.
Following the deliberation, the House Justice Committee has declared the impeachment complaints against Vice Pres. Sara Duterte as sufficient in grounds. The panel has also set the initial dates for the hearing.
