House leaders deny efforts to impeach Vice President Sara Duterte
MANILA, Philippines – Months-long speculations of an impeachment effort against Vice President Sara Duterte would not die down but ranking officials in the House of Representatives downplayed them as “rumor-mongering” that needs to stop.
Their reactions came after the Vice President said on Tuesday, August 20, that her friends in Congress had made her aware of an alleged plot to oust her from the country’s second-highest post.
Some congressional leaders who faced the media in the House-sanctioned press briefing on Wednesday, August 21, however, said there are no impeachment talks in the lower chamber.
“This is counterproductive to the work that we are doing right now,” House Assistant Majority Leader Zia Alonto Adiong said. “That’s why we don’t put credence on the issue because we know this [only creates] disunity, creates chaos politically.”
“It’s such a waste to spend time on senseless talks, and they don’t materialize,” House Deputy Majority Leader Janette Garin added in Filipino. “I haven’t heard talks of impeachment, and I don’t see my colleagues [talking] about it.”
House Assistant Majority Leader Francisco Paolo Ortega questioned the accuracy of the information received by the Vice President. It’s a sentiment also shared by 1-Rider Representative Rodge Gutierrez, a member of the House minority but was also present during Tuesday’s press briefing.
A day before, House Deputy Majority Leader Erwin Tulfo also categorically said that the House leadership was not endorsing any effort to impeach the Vice President.
“I really don’t know where the Vice President got the information,” Tulfo said on Tuesday. “Personally, I have no idea.”
Persistent rumors
It was in November 2023 when House Deputy Minority Leader France Castro said there were informal discussions about Duterte’s possible impeachment, although she later said these conversations were still “premature.”
House leaders subsequently dismissed the impeachment rumors, and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. himself said he did not want the country’s number two impeached.
Those talks came on the heels of the controversy surrounding the Vice President’s speedy disbursement of P125 million in confidential funds in 2022, and signs of discord between Duterte and the President’s allies.
In June, Duterte formally resigned from Marcos’ Cabinet, signaling the political breakup between the tandem that dominated the presidential and vice presidential elections in 2022.
The political coalition that Marcos has built for the 2025 midterm elections does not include Duterte nor her regional party Hugpong ng Pagbabago.
In August, the House formed a mega panel to identify the links between Philippine offshore gaming operators or POGOs, Chinese syndicates, the illegal drug trade, and extrajudicial killings in the country. During one session, Duterte’s husband Manases Carpio and brother Davao City 1st District Representative Paolo Duterte were linked to illegal drugs, prompting the Vice President to cry political harassment.
In a press conference after the Vice President faced a Senate subcommittee deliberating on her office’s proposed 2025 budget, Duterte said: “[An impeachment case] is expected. It’s always discussed among members of the House of Representatives. We always hear about it from our friends inside.”
Under the 1987 Constitution, the House of Representatives has the exclusive power to initiate impeachment cases on the grounds of culpable violation of the Constitution, treason, bribery, graft and corruption, other high crimes, or betrayal of public trust.
Any member may file a verified complaint for impeachment with the proper committee. Based on House records, no lawmaker has done so. – Rappler.com