Second impeachment case filed vs Duterte

Metro Manila, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte is facing her second impeachment complaint, just two days after the first one was filed.

About 70 people from a number of groups filed the complaint with the House of Representatives on Wednesday, Dec. 4, citing betrayal of public trust over Duterte’s alleged abuse of her P612.5-million confidential funds.

The complaint stated Duterte’s betrayal of public trust by:

+abusing her discretionary powers over the confidential funds

+gross disregard of transparency and accountability

+dereliction of official duty with her refusal to attend a congressional inquiry and budget hearings

“Ito ay betrayal of the public trust at dahil dito, karapat-dapat lang na siya'y tanggalin sa pwesto at hindi na payagang humawak ng anumang pwesto sa gobyerno,” BAYAN chairperson Teddy Casiño said.

[Translation: This is betrayal of public trust and because of this, it is just right that she is ousted and prohibited to hold any government position.]

Makabayan party-list bloc lawmakers — Gabriela Rep. Arlene Brosas, ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro, and Kabataan Rep. Raoul Manuel — endorsed the impeachment complaint.

“This sitting vice president, si Sara Duterte, akala niya she can cheat her way out of misuse of public funds… Isang malaking cheater at taksil si Sara Duterte,” Manuel said.

[Translation: This sitting vice president, Sara Duterte, thought she could cheat her way out of misuse of public funds… She is a cheater and traitor.]

“Sa tingin po natin, may probable cause talaga to impeach Sara Duterte, batay dito sa ating dokumento at testimonies,” Brosas said.

[Translation: We think that there is probable cause to impeach Sara Duterte, based on our documents and testimonies.]

The first complaint filed by civil society groups on Monday, Dec. 2, was endorsed by Akbayan party-list Rep. Peri Cendana. It cited as grounds the violation to the Constitution, betrayal of public trust and other “high crimes,” including the death threats she made against the president, his wife, and the speaker of the House of Representatives.

Koalisyong Makabayan president Liza Masa appealed to lawmakers on how to vote on the complaint.

“Bumoto ayon sa kanilang konsensya; hindi ayon sa kanilang partido, hindi ayon sa kung sino pa man na personal na interes nila, kung hindi sa pag-weigh nila sa kung ano ba ang tama o mali sa ating bayan,” she said.

[Translation: Vote based on your conscience; not based on parties or anyone that aligns with their personal interests but their weighing of what’s right or wrong for our country.]

The House good government and public accountability committee has been conducting an inquiry on the supposed mismanagement of confidential funds of the Office of the Vice President and the Education Department, which Duterte led until July this year.

Lawmakers flagged Duterte’s spending of P125 million of confidential funds for 11 days in 2022. They also flagged “questionable” acknowledgement receipts with no date, names, or signatures.

Some acknowledgement receipts also contain “dubious” names, including a certain Mary Grace Piattos, which lawmakers said was a combination of restaurant and snack brand names.

The Philippine Statistics Authority said there was no Mary Grace Piattos on its database.

Duterte, 46, has had a political falling out with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. who was her running mate under the “Uniteam” in the 2022 elections. A lawyer and former Davao City mayor, the vice president has since aired strong sentiments against the administration.