House leaders say impeachment decision vs VP Sara is lawmakers' call

MANILA, Philippines — House leaders said on Thursday, November 28, that it is a lawmaker’s discretion whether or not they will file an impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte.

Dismissing the rumors that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. discouraged the lower chamber from filing an impeachment complaint, Rep. Jefferson Khonghun (Zambales, 1st District) said that House members can choose to support or not to support any complaint.

“Lahat naman ng tao may karapatan na mag-file ng impeachment at siguro nasa kanya-kanyang konsensya na ‘yan ng mga bawat miyembro ng Kamara kung susuporta sila sa impeachment na may magpa-file,” he said at a press conference. 

(Everyone has the right to file an impeachment, and it’s up to the conscience of each member of the House whether they will support an impeachment filed by someone.)

According to Article 11, Section 3 of the 1987 Constitution, the lower chamber has the "exclusive power to initiate all cases of impeachment." 

Khonghun, vice chair of the good government panel, added that members of Congress cannot be stopped should lawmakers back the impeachment complaint, even if it were the president who asked not to.

“Dahil siyempre hindi naman natin ito pwede ring pigilan ang mga miyembro ng Kongreso pag may gustong miyembro na sumuporta sa isang impeachment complaint,” he said.

(Of course, we cannot stop members of Congress if a member wishes to support an impeachment complaint.)

However, he also said that the committee has not discussed matters of an impeachment complaint due to the many responsibilities that Congress has been occupied with, such as the back-to-back hearings on the Office of the Vice President and Department of Education’s alleged misuse of confidential funds.

Rep. Joel Chua (Manila, 3rd District) gave a similar explanation, saying that each person and sector has their own opinion that should be respected.

He also stressed how the 2025 midterm polls are approaching, which is why everyone is busy. 

“Kaya hindi ko po masagot kung totoong magkakaroon ng impeachment dahil February start na po ng national campaign. By March, start na po ng local campaign,” he added.

(I can't answer if an impeachment will actually happen because the national campaign starts in February, and by March, the local campaign will begin.)

Chua, the standing committee chair, previously raised possible grounds for an impeachment complaint based on their findings of OVP and DepEd’s lenient handling of millions of confidential funds under Duterte’s wing.    

He said that the “expensive” rental and maintenance costs for 34 OVP safehouses, along with the “youth leadership summits” that the Philippine Army claimed received no funding from DepEd, could point to potential graft, corruption and betrayal of public trust.

RELATED: Impeachment of VP Sara Duterte needed before plunder raps — House leader

The committee said that they plan to file bills next week in relation to safeguarding the use, accounting and auditing of confidential funds of each government agency or office.

They postponed the eighth hearing scheduled for Friday, November 29, to give way to the National Bureau of Investigation's (NBI) probe into the death threats Duterte made against Marcos, the First Lady, and House Speaker. 

The NBI issued a subpoena to Duterte for her to appear on Friday at their headquarters and explain her side.