The Tamesis
April 30, 2026
Manila – The House Judiciary Committee found probable cause to impeach Vice President Sara Duterte after holding three clarifying hearings on two complaints within the panel’s jurisdiction.
During the hearing, the committee concluded discussions on allegations that Duterte threatened to kill President Ferdinand Marcos, first lady Lisa Araneta Marcos and former House Speaker Ferdinand Martín Romualz.
After the committee resolved the issue, committee chairman Rep. Gerville Luistro of Batangas heard a motion to declare the existence of probable cause.
Rep. Franz Vincent Legazpi, a member of the Workers’ Party of the Philippines, announced that there was probable cause for the third impeachment complaint.
The motion was seconded, no objection was raised, and the motion was deemed carried.
Luistro, however, called for a symbolic vote to check whether a majority of MPs agreed to the motion.
A total of 53 MPs voted in favor of the motion, with no one opposing or abstaining.
Legazpi also made the same motion regarding the fourth complaint, which was also passed unanimously.
Wednesday’s hearing follows two clarification hearings on the grounds stated in the two remaining impeachment complaints.
On April 14 last year, the panel discussed allegations of misuse of confidential funds (CF) within Duterte’s office.
Some of the revelations made during the April 14 hearing were contained in additional testimony from Ramil Madriaga, a former Duterte aide.
According to Madriga, Duterte allegedly ordered her in December 2022 to coordinate with Col. Denis Nolasco to deliver cash to allies in San Pablo, Laguna; to a comedy bar in Quezon City; and to the Ombudsman’s Office parking lot as a way of “paying back.”
Madriga said four large duffel bags, three dark and one light, each containing approximately 30 million to 35 million pesos, were unloaded from the vehicle.
It is believed to be 125 million pesos of confidential funds for 2022, which Madrigal said he liquidated in one day, not 11 days as reported.
READ: Madriaga: OVP 2022 secret funds spent in 1 day, not 11
On April 22, the panel addressed allegations that Duterte had undisclosed wealth.
During the hearing, Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) Executive Director Buenaventura confirmed that they had seen suspicious transactions by relatives such as Duterte and her husband, Manases Carpio.
READ: AMLC confirms suspicious transactions by relatives of Sara Duterte
Later in the day, Mamamayang Liberal-list Rep. Leila de Lima randomly selected 18 transactions released in Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV’s affidavit against Duterte and asked if they matched the records in the hands of the AMLC.
Ultimately, Buenaventura said that while they could not reveal information about the nature of the transfers, 18 of the 18 transactions identified by De Lima were confirmed to be part of AMLC records.
Initially, four impeachment complaints were filed against Duterte, but only two remained after the first complaint by the Makabayan coalition was shelved for allegedly violating the one-year bar rule, while the second complaint was withdrawn by petitioners from the Tindig Pilipinas.
On March 4 last year, a third complaint by clergy and lawyers and a fourth complaint by lawyer Nathaniel Cabrera were declared substantively sufficient.
On March 25, the grounds for complaint were declared sufficient.
Six reasons were mentioned in the third complaint:
- Alleged violations of the Constitution, betrayal of public trust, and other felonies in the amassing and redemption of over P500 million allocated to the Office of the Vice President from 2022 to 2023
- Alleged violation of the Constitution, betrayal of public trust, and other felonies in amassing and misappropriating not less than P112.5 million in confidential funds allocated to the Department of Education (DepEd) in 2023
- Alleged corruption and bribery of Ministry of Education officials, violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust
- Alleged violations of the Constitution, betrayal of the public trust, and other felonies involving participation in the murder or assassination of the President, the First Lady, and the former Speaker of the House of Representatives
- Alleged violation of the Constitution and betrayal of the public trust by amassing unexplained wealth and failing to disclose all of her property and property interests in SALN
- Suspected of violating the constitution, betraying public trust, committing politically unstable acts, and inciting rebellion, etc.
The fourth statement mentioned seven grounds similar to the impeachment complaint filed by 215 members on February 5, 2025:
- Suspected of committing felonies such as violation of the Constitution, betrayal of public trust, etc. for assassination conspiracy, incitement of rebellion, subversion of the constitutional order, etc.
- Alleged betrayal of public trust, embezzlement and corruption through misuse and misappropriation of CF allocations
- Alleged corruption, bribery, procurement irregularities and command responsibility for payments of public funds to unauthorized recipients
- Alleged bribery of Ministry of Education officials through monetary gifts, procurement irregularities and related corruption
- Alleged Unexplained Wealth, SALN Breach, Bank Records and Financial Forensics
- Suspected of serious crimes, abuse, threats, incitement and interference with civilian supremacy
- Alleged Pattern of Abuse and Cumulative Misconduct Principles/apl/atm
