Vice President Sara Duterte is increasingly trapped, the Philippine House of Representatives opens the impeachment road

Vice President Sara Duterte. (Wikimedia Commons - Richard Modelo - Presidential Photo)

JAKARTA - The Philippine House of Representatives has paved the way for the impeachment of Vice President (Wapres) Sara Duterte. The House of Representatives' Judicial Committee, Wednesday, stated that there was sufficient basis to bring two impeachment complaints to the next stage.

Quoted from the Philippine News Agency (PNA), Wednesday, April 29, the two complaints were both approved with 53 votes. No one refused. No one abstained. In politics, numbers like this are usually not just numbers. That's a hard message.

The first complaint was filed by Pastor Joel Saballa and a number of other parties. This complaint was supported by member of the DPR Leila de Lima. The second complaint was filed by lawyer Nathaniel Cabrera, with the support of members of the DPR Bienvenido Abante Jr. and Deputy Speaker of the DPR Paolo Ortega V.

After the vote, De Lima asked that the two complaints be merged. The reason is that the constitutional basis is the same. The series of alleged acts are also the same. Therefore, the impeachment articles are considered to be compiled in one complete document.

The case centers on the alleged misuse of confidential funds worth 612.5 million Philippine pesos belonging to the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education.

De Lima said there was a pattern of misuse of funds. He referred to the testimony of Ramil Madriaga, who was referred to as an intermediary for funds. He also quoted the findings of the Philippine National Bureau of Investigation that only a few people signed many receipts.

The Philippine Audit Commission has also issued a notice of rejection of the use of the secret funds. The Vice President's Office was rejected. The funds were asked to be returned. The Philippine Statistics Authority stated that many names on the receipt were not recorded in the civil registry.

"Our conclusion is clear: there is sufficient basis," De Lima was quoted as saying by PNA.

Duterte's political burden increased because there were allegations of unexplained wealth. In his wealth report, Duterte was said not to have explicitly listed cash and bank deposits for six consecutive years since 2019.

The Philippine Anti-Money Laundering Council also reported covered and suspicious transactions worth 6.77 billion pesos in 663 reports involving Duterte's and his husband's accounts.

The other accusations are no less heated. Duterte is said to have made death threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former House of Representatives Speaker Martin Romualdez. De Lima said Duterte's statements spoke for themselves.

Abante added that Madriaga's testimony opened the mystery of duffel bags containing cash in December 2022. The 125 million peso fund was said to have moved in less than 24 hours, not 11 days as stated in the audit report.

He also alluded to Duterte's alleged links to Philippine offshore gaming operators or POGOs, as well as illegal drug trafficking. According to Madriaga, Duterte's campaign was allegedly funded by these activities.

Now, the committee's report will be brought to the plenary session of the DPR. To impeach the Vice President, the support of one-third of all DPR members is needed. If it passes, this case will go to the Senate for trial.