House panel set for final VP impeach hearing

MANILA, Philippines — The House committee on justice will resume today what is expected to be its final hearing to determine probable cause in the impeachment complaints against Vice President Sara Duterte, focusing on her public threat in 2024 to have President Marcos, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and then-speaker Martin Romualdez killed.

The panel, chaired by Batangas 2nd district Rep. Gerville Luistro, is also expected to rule on whether the third and fourth impeachment complaints – earlier found sufficient in form, substance and grounds – establish probable cause for trial.

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), led by director Melvin Matibag, has been invited to present findings from its probe into the alleged assassination threat.

The allegation stems from Duterte’s November 2024 press conference, where she issued an expletive-laden statement and said she had arranged for someone to kill the President, the First Lady and the then-speaker if anything happened to her.

Endorsers of the fourth impeachment complaint stressed that the threat was made on record and on video, making it a key piece of direct evidence in the proceedings.

The NBI’s testimony is expected to shed light on whether Duterte’s remarks constitute a credible and actionable threat under Philippine law.

Duterte has since downplayed her remarks, describing them as conditional and tied to concerns for her own safety.

Lawmakers, however, maintain that the totality of her statements – and the context in which they were made – must be assessed in full.

Aside from the alleged kill threat, the impeachment complaints also accuse Duterte of misusing P612.5 million in confidential funds and amassing unexplained wealth.

These allegations are cited as constituting culpable violation of the Constitution, betrayal of public trust, graft and corruption and other high crimes.

The justice panel will also decide whether to open the sealed box from the Bureau of Internal Revenue containing the income tax returns (ITRs) of Duterte and her husband, Manases Carpio.

The BIR explained during last Wednesday’s impeachment hearing that the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC) allows the disclosure of tax information to Congress only in aid of legislation and, even then, “provided that the examination will be done in an executive session.”

BIR Commissioner Charlito Martin Mendoza cited Section 20(a) of the NIRC, which allows the BIR to furnish Congress with pertinent information, including industry audits, collection performance data and status reports on criminal actions and taxpayer returns.

Even without the ITRs for now, House committee on good government and public accountability chair and Manila 3rd district Rep. Joel Chua said the documentary picture already forming before the committee is troubling enough because the figures from the statement of assets, liabilities and net worth, the Anti-Money Laundering Council and the Securities and Exchange Commission are not aligned with one another.

‘Constitutional’

The House justice panel has asked the Supreme Court (SC) to dismiss the two petitions challenging the constitutionality of the impeachment case against the Vice President – one of which was filed by Duterte herself.

The Office of the Solicitor General, which represented the House justice panel, filed last April 23 its comment-opposition to the two petitions that wanted the SC to declare as unconstitutional the ongoing impeachment proceedings.

Among the 11 arguments indicated in its 85-page comment-opposition, the House justice panel declared it was “not carrying out a fishing expedition against Vice President Sara Duterte” as it determined the sufficiency in form and substance, as well as probable cause of the Saballa and Cabrera impeachment complaints.

It also maintained the two complaints “did not transgress the one-year bar” rule and that it did not violate the Vice President’s right to due process.

In addition, the House justice panel asserted it “did not employ different standards in assessing the impeachment complaints filed against the President and Vice President Duterte.”

Furthermore, it stated the petitions filed by Duterte and a group led by lawyer Israelito Torreon “are not entitled to a temporary restraining order and/or a writ of preliminary injunction.”

It pointed out the said reliefs should not be granted as “there is no material or substantial invasion of rights in this case,” among others.

Enough funds

According to Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson, the upper chamber is financially equipped to handle the potential impeachment trial of Vice President Duterte without needing supplementary budgets, with at least a P27-million standby fund from last year’s appropriations.

Lacson explained that the chamber still has the lion’s share of a P27-million budget specifically allocated for impeachment proceedings under the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA).

“There’s at least P27 million under the 2025 GAA, of which around P500,000 was spent when last year’s Articles of Impeachment against VP Duterte was transmitted to the Senate,” Lacson noted.

Because national budget rules allow for the extended use of these allocations, the remaining P26.5 million is fully accessible for this year’s impending legal battle.

“Since the fund is good for two years under ‘continuing appropriations,’ Senate is financially able and ready to conduct the trial if and when the articles of impeachment are transmitted,” Lacson added.

Aside from utilizing leftover funds, the upper chamber is also keeping other logistical preparations practical to avoid unnecessary expenses.

When asked if the 24 senator-judges would be acquiring new custom robes for the highly anticipated trial, Senate President Vicente Sotto III said they would use the ones they used during Duterte’s trial last year.

No concrete leads

At the same time, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency is still hitting a blank wall in its investigation on a certain Sammy Uy, a businessman from Davao City who was identified as a drug lord by former senator Antonio Trillanes IV.

PDEA spokesman Joseph Frederick Calulut said they have yet to obtain concrete leads on Uy, whom Trillanes said gave the Dutertes P181.6 million in drug money.

Calulut said the challenge is they are dealing with a name that is common in the country.

“We are still conducting an investigation if Mr. Sammy Uy has involvement, considering that his name is very common,” he said over radio dzBB yesterday. — Ghio Ong, Emmanuel Tupas