House panel edits, OKs report on Duterte impeachment before plenary vote

MANILA, Philippines — The House justice panel finalized its report finding probable cause to impeach Vice President Sara Duterte, approving a refined version without dissent after applying some word changes at the last hearing on Monday, May 4.

The committee had already unanimously voted last week, 53-0, that there is enough basis to charge Duterte with the two impeachment complaints. 

Monday's work was dedicated to ironing out the final language of the resolution, committee report and articles of impeachment — the main documents the 318-member House will vote on at a plenary session to formally impeach Duterte. If approved, the Senate will receive the report for possible trial. 

Both chambers of Congress resume their sessions today after a month-long recess.

"If the vice president is guilty, let the truth convict her. If she's innocent, let the process clear her," committee chair Rep. Jinky Luistro said in her opening speech.

The articles of impeachment accuse Duterte of misusing confidential funds, accumulating unexplained wealth, and making death threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos, and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez. 

Getting the wording right

Early into Monday's hearing, Rep. Chel Diokno (Akbayan) raised what he believed was a potential technical weakness in the draft that could be flagged later on.

The resolution, Diokno pointed out, described "not less than" P500 million in misused confidential funds. But he noted that the Commission on Audit records show only P73 million of an initial P125 million tranche released in 2022 was actually disallowed. The provable total, he said, could land around P435 million, short of the P500 million threshold.

The lawmaker moved to drop "not less than" and adopt the language already used in the attached articles, which refer to the "systematic misuse, misappropriation, and irregular liquidation of confidential funds amounting to P500 million."

Diokno also pushed to add a detail from earlier testimony: that disbursing officers released funds "to persons outside the proper disbursement channels." 

But Diokno later withdrew the motions after spotting what he considered a more overarching issue in the wording of the subheader. A text in the resolution read: "Respondent Vice President Duterte committed the foregoing impeachable offenses through the following acts as alleged in the Saballa et al. complaint."

Diokno moved to restructure the sentence to read: "The Saballa et al. complaint alleged that respondent Vice President Duterte committed the foregoing impeachable offenses through the following acts."

The committee approved the amendment without objection.

Rep. Leila de Lima (Mamamayang Liberal) also moved to add new text. She cited SEC records showing Duterte was listed as a stockholder and board member of Davao-based Metro City Chow Foods Corporation from 2022 to 2025, which is her entire time in office so far. The Constitution bars the vice president from participating in any business during their tenure. De Lima moved to insert the allegation as a new subheading under Article II, charging that Duterte failed to divest her business interests.

The committee approved De Lima's motion without objection.

The SEC disclosure first surfaced during the committee's April 22 hearing, when SEC official Gerardo del Rosario said Duterte's name appeared on the company's general information sheets as holder of 500 shares. 

What comes next 

A plenary vote could take place by May 11. Once the plenary receives the committee report, all 318 House members will have time to study the articles before voting. Rep. Jinky Luistro (Batangas, 2nd District), has said the plenary should be ready to vote after members are given reasonable time to review the documents. 

The 1987 Constitution requires a one-third vote — in this case, 106 members — to impeach. 

The first impeachment of the vice president at the House in 2025 was carried by 215 votes. 

Reacting to criticisms of the justice panel's actions, Deputy Speaker Paolo Ortega (La Union) said last week the 53-0 unanimous vote was driven by documentary evidence, sworn testimony, and official financial records, and not by any "pay-off."

Luistro has said she expects heated debate once the matter reaches the floor. Duterte's allies have accused the committee of being politically motivated, and the vice president herself has snubbed the hearings due to objections to its constitutionality.