The Manila Times
(UPDATE) WITH 257 affirmative votes against 25 negative votes and nine abstentions, the House of Representatives on Monday decided to send the impeachment articles against Vice President Sara Duterte to the Senate for trial. The final vote was well above the one-third of all House members — or 106 — needed to send the impeachment articles to the Senate. “The supermajority vote shows that Congress can still rise above political loyalties when the evidence demands accountability,” Akbayan Rep. Perci Cendaña said in a statement. “This is not about personality or surname. This is about public trust and accountability to the public,” he said. “Today, the 20th Congress House of Representatives made history,” Bicol Saro Rep. Terry Ridon, a member of the House Committee on Justice, said in a statement. “Under two different Congresses, the House impeached Vice President Sara Duterte for a second time,” Ridon said. The House in February 2025 impeached Duterte over, among others, alleged misuse of confidential funds but the Supreme Court declared the impeachment articles unconstitutional for violation of the 1987 Constitution’s prohibition against initiating impeachment proceedings against the same official more than once within a one-year period. “The impeachment is founded on a broad and solid body of evidence, testimonies, and documents presented before the House Committee on Justice,” Ridon said. “We are aware of the action taken by the plenary and with that vote to transmit the articles of impeachment, the burden now rests on the accusers to substantiate their claims in accordance with the Constitution, the law, and rules on evidence,” Duterte’s defense team said in a statement. “While questions of constitutional significance remain pending before the Supreme Court, we are fully prepared to defend the vice president before the Senate sitting as an impeachment court, where it is incumbent upon the prosecution to discharge the burden of proof,” the team said. Senate coup Akbayan Rep. Chel Diokno said the public will be keeping an eye on the impeachment process no matter who is leading the Senate, after senators elected Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano as the chamber’s president, replacing Sen. Vicente Sotto III. “No matter who the sitting leader of the Senate is, the public will closely watch the impeachment process,” Diokno said in Filipino and English in a statement. “The House has already done its job, and I hope the Senate will fulfill its constitutional duty under the 1987 Constitution to forthwith convene as an impeachment court once the articles of impeachment are transmitted to it,” he said. Ridon said he respected the Senate’s process in choosing their leaders. “Nevertheless, the process of transmitting the articles of impeachment to the Senate after the voting today will push through,” he said in Filipino and English. Speculation about Sotto’s ouster as Senate president focused on the impeachment trial. Unlike his predecessor, Sen. Francis Escudero who delayed and eventually scuttled the trial against Duterte in 2025, Sotto had vowed to convene the senators as an impeachment court as soon as the articles of incorporation were transmitted from the House. Ahead of the voting, the National Unity Party (NUP) said the vote was not a judgment as it called on the public “to understand the nature and significance of this vote.” “It bears emphasis that the vote of the House on the articles of impeachment is not, and must never be mistaken for, a determination of guilt or innocence,” the NUP said in a statement. “The House of Representatives does not sit as a court. It does not weigh evidence for purposes of conviction or acquittal. It does not render judgment on the ultimate merits of the charges,” the NUP said. Under the 1987 Constitution, only the House can initiate impeachment cases and only the Senate can conduct an impeachment trial. The impeachment proceedings at the House was not an act of disrespect toward Duterte’s supporters, Batangas 2nd District Rep. Gerville Luistro, the committee chairman, said in her speech at the plenary ahead of the voting. “As to the process: we were careful. We did not rush. We followed the one-year bar rule. We gave opportunity to every side. The hearings were conducted openly, livestreamed, and open to the public,” Luistro said. “We listened to every manifestation, every argument, every legal point,” she said. “And let us be clear: this process is not an act of disrespect to Filipinos supporting the vice president,” she said. “In a democracy, the support of citizens should be respected. But however high the position, and however strong the support, no one is beyond accountability under the Constitution,” she said. The articles of impeachment seek Duterte’s removal from office and lifetime ban from any government position. Article I alleged that Duterte committed culpable violation of the Constitution, graft and corruption, and betrayed public trust “through the systematic misuse, misappropriation, and irregular liquidation of confidential funds amounting to” P500 million “released to the Office of the Vice President and” P112.5 million “released to the Department of Education.” Duterte served as Education secretary before she resigned from that post in 2024. Article II alleged that she committed culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayed public trust when “she allegedly amassed” unexplained wealth manifestly disproportionate to her lawful income and earnings during her incumbency as a public official; “allegedly failed “ to fully and truthfully disclose all her and her spouse’s assets, liabilities, and net worth in her Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN), including in her SALN for the years 2022, 2023, and 2024; “and allegedly failed” to divest, and instead, willfully continued, all her business interests during her tenure as “vice president” for the years 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025.” Article III alleged that she “committed bribery, graft and corruption, culpable violation of the Constitution, and betrayed public trust when she gave monetary gifts or payments to” certain people “to induce the violation and circumvention of procurement and other related laws.” The last article, Article IV, alleged that Duterte “committed culpable violation of the Constitution, high crimes, and betrayed public trust by contracting for the assassination of” President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., first lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and Leyte 1st District Rep. and former speaker Martin Romualdez “by making grave threats, and by actively inciting sedition against the” republic. Duterte has denied all the charges.
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