Probable cause to impeach VP Sara Duterte exists, says House panel

MANILA, Philippines – The House justice committee found probable cause to impeach Vice President Sara Duterte, a significant step that moves her case one step closer to the plenary.

This determination on Wednesday, April 29, came after four non-consecutive days of public hearings that zeroed in on the pieces of evidence against the Vice President — from her bank transaction records, to a star witness that claimed he was the bagman of Duterte.

A total of 53 lawmakers unanimously voted in favor of the motion declaring that probable cause exists to impeach Duterte in the first complaint endorsed by ML Representative Leila de Lima, and second complaint endorsed by Deputy Speaker Paolo Ortega and Manila 6th District Representative Bienvenido Abante.

“From the misuse and abuse of confidential funds, bribery of Department of Education officials, to the alarming pattern of amassing unexplained wealth, to the gravity of threats and seditious incitement that strike at the very heart of our constitutional order, there exists probable cause to impeach the Vice President,” De Lima said.

Duterte and her legal team snubbed all four hearings, issuing public statements and conducting press conferences outside Congress instead to offer general denials on the allegations raised in Congress.

The public hearing featured detainee Ramil Madriaga, who claimed he distributed Duterte’s confidential funds worth P125 million in less than 24 hours in December 2022.

The Anti-Money Laundering Council also released its report detailing P6.7 billion in transactions from 2006 to 2025, a mismatch from her net worth declarations that peaked at only P88 million and cash and bank deposit declarations that peaked at P6 million.

The committee will now draft a report, and another majority vote results in its transmittal to the plenary.

A one-third vote in the plenary leads to the impeachment of the Vice President for a second time, in what will be an unprecedented moment in Philippine history. The articles of impeachment will then be sent to the Senate, which will hold a trial to determine her guilt. – Rappler.com