House votes today on VP impeachment

MANILA, Philippines — Members of the House of Representatives are expected to cast their votes as the chamber resumes session this afternoon, as they move to impeach Vice President Sara Duterte – the second time for the nation’s second highest official.

Lawmakers have predicted that the leadership of Speaker Faustino Dy III can easily muster the minimum requirement of 106 votes and send the Articles of Impeachment to the Senate for trial. 

“We are anticipating that we will be given the opportunity to defend the committee report, to defend the findings of probable cause, to defend the Articles of Impeachment,” House justice committee chairperson Rep. Gerville Luistro said.

Rep. Terry Ridon predicted last week that garnering 215 votes may be a walk in the park, matching or even surpassing the vote in the first impeachment move in February 2025, while National Unity Party chairman Deputy Speaker Ronaldo Puno sees a minimum of 180 for impeachment. 

Voting in plenary will be done via nominal voting, with each House member allowed to explain his vote. 

The plenary proceedings will tackle the report and resolution approved by the Luistro committee after weeks of hearings into allegations involving a total of P612.5 million in confidential funds, unexplained P6.77-billion wealth, bribery, and threats against top government officials.

The House committee on justice earlier voted unanimously, 53-0, to find probable cause to impeach Duterte, and later overwhelmingly approved, 55-0, the committee report and resolution setting forth the Articles of Impeachment for plenary deliberations.

Luistro said lawmakers could expect intense debates on both the panel’s findings and the conduct of the proceedings, but stressed that the House justice committee was ready to answer questions from House members.

Under the 1987 Constitution, at least one-third of all House members – or 106 votes out of the 318-member chamber – would be enough to approve the Articles of Impeachment and immediately transmit them to the Senate for trial, where the senators will be acting as senator-judges.

The first article involves the alleged misuse and irregular disbursement of confidential funds under both the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education during Duterte’s tenure as DepEd chief from July 2022 to July 2024.

The second article focuses on allegations of unexplained wealth and discrepancies involving Duterte’s statements of assets, liabilities and net worth and bank transactions flagged by the Anti-Money Laundering Council.

The third article concerns allegations of bribery tied to cash envelopes reportedly distributed to DepEd officials during Duterte’s time as education secretary.

The fourth article centers on Duterte’s controversial remarks in November 2024 in which she publicly stated that she had arranged for President Marcos, First Lady Liza Marcos and then speaker Martin Romualdez to be killed should anything happen to her.

Visayan bloc expected to support impeachment

Deputy Speaker Alfredo Abelardo Benitez said the majority of lawmakers belonging to the Visayan bloc are expected to vote in favor of Duterte’s impeachment.

Benitez, convenor of the more than 40-member Visayan bloc composed of representatives from the Visayas, said all lawmakers from the Negros Island Region are expected to vote for the impeachment.

The region includes six congressional districts in Negros Occidental, three in Negros Oriental, one in Siquijor and Abang Lingkod Party-list Rep. Manuel Frederick Ko, who is also from Negros.

“I am looking at the likelihood that she (Duterte) will be impeached,” Benitez, an ex-officio member of the House committee on justice who earlier voted in favor of Duterte’s impeachment during committee proceedings, said.

However, he clarified that the official position of the Visayan bloc would only be known during the plenary voting today.

In a statement yesterday, the pro-Duterte party Partido Demokratiko Pilipino (PDP)-Lakas ng Bayan warned House lawmakers that supporting the impeachment of Sara Duterte would carry political consequences, including exclusion from the party’s slate and future electoral support.

The party said it would respond accordingly to lawmakers who back the impeachment effort.

“PDP will take the same principled stand. Those who vote for the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte cannot expect political refuge in PDP,” the party said.

“They will not be allowed to cross over to the party. They will be blacklisted from running under the PDP banner. And where necessary, PDP will field and support a competitive candidate in their district,” it added. — Gilbert Bayoran, Evelyn Macairan