House committee clears VP Sara’s impeachment for full House vote

By Pexcel John Bacon and Erika Mae P. Sinaking, Reporter

THE House of Representatives Justice Committee on Monday unanimously approved its report and resolution containing the articles of impeachment against Vice-President (VP) Sara Duterte-Carpio, moving the case closer to plenary deliberations and a possible Senate trial.

All 55 committee members present voted in favor of the report, which formalizes the charges and elevates the complaint to the full House.

“Let it be placed on the record that 55 out of 55 Justice [committee] members physically present manifested their support to the approval of the committee report… setting forth the impeachment as amended,” Batangas Rep. Gerville R. Luistro told the hearing.

Ms. Luistro, who presided over the proceedings, defended the integrity of the process, saying the panel adhered to constitutional requirements.

“We followed the Constitution,” she said in Filipino. “We didn’t rush, we didn’t take shortcuts.”

The committee began hearings on March 2, and after nearly two months of proceedings, voted on April 29 to find probable cause to impeach the Vice-President.

Lawmakers reviewed a range of materials during the hearings, including sworn testimonies, audit findings and financial records. These included reports from the Commission on Audit and flagged transactions identified by the Anti-Money Laundering Council.

Central to the articles of impeachment are allegations of misuse and irregular liquidation of confidential funds. Lawmakers cited at least P500 million in questioned expenditures under the Office of the Vice-President and an additional P112.5 million linked to the Department of Education during Ms. Duterte’s tenure as its head.

The complaint also includes allegations of unexplained wealth and discrepancies in her statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALNs). Lawmakers also cited alleged threats against President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. as part of the charges.

Ms. Luistro said the process was demanding but remained focused.

“We certainly had our ups and downs… but through it all, one thing remained certain — we never went sideways,” she said. “We didn’t get lost. We stayed on track.”

With the committee report approved, the impeachment complaint will be taken up at the House plenary for debate and voting.

Party-list Rep. Terry L. Ridon said plenary deliberations could begin as early as this week, with voting expected soon after.

“We will go to the plenary this week. The earliest is tomorrow, and we will vote on it by next week,” Mr. Ridon told reporters in mixed English and Filipino.

He expressed confidence that the complaint would secure the required support in the House, noting that proponents expect to meet or exceed the one-third vote threshold needed to transmit the case to the Senate.

“We are expecting that the Vice-President will be impeached, so the 106 is all but certain,” he said. “It’s just a question of how many more votes we will get,” he added, referring to the minimum number of votes required under the Constitution.

Mr. Ridon also said supporters are aiming to match or surpass the vote count in previous impeachment proceedings.

The committee’s unanimous vote might not necessarily reflect the outcome at the plenary level, where broader political factors could shape the decision, Eric Daniel De Torres, a University of the East political science professor, told BusinessWorld.

“The overwhelming vote can reflect a strong basis for the impeachment complaint, or it may not reflect the totality of the plenary votes, especially with questions on the credibility of the witnesses,” he said via Facebook Messenger.

He added that political considerations ahead of the 2028 elections could influence how lawmakers vote.

Under the 1987 Constitution, at least one-third of congressmen must affirm an impeachment complaint for it to be sent to the Senate, which will then convene as an impeachment court.

Jaime B. Naval, a University of the Philippines political science professor, said the unanimous approval is a strong early signal but not a final indicator of the outcome.

“The unanimous vote in the Justice committee is a strong opening signal — but not the final verdict,” he said via Messenger, adding that alliances, public opinion and constituency pressures could shape the final vote.

‘BLATANT LIE’
Meanwhile, the lawyers of Manases R. Carpio, husband of the Vice-President, denied allegations that he had P6.7 billion in bank transactions, calling the figure “fake and a blatant lie.”

Lawyers Peter Paul L. Danao and Harlin Neil J. Abayon III said the amount was based on what they described as misleading accounting methods and a banking error, although they declined to disclose the actual balance of their client’s accounts.

“Atty. Carpio said that the P6 billion is fake and a lie,” Mr. Danao told a livestreamed briefing from Quezon City. “He doesn’t have that kind of money.”

He said the figure appeared to be derived from the cumulative total of transactions over time, including deposits and withdrawals, rather than the actual account balance.

Mr. Abayon added that the reported figures also failed to account for a system error previously acknowledged by a bank.

“There was a P2-billion error that entered, then they corrected it, so it was taken out,” he said.

The legal team said a clarificatory letter from Bank of the Philippine Islands showed that the P2-billion transaction cited in the proceedings was in fact P2 million.

They argued that lawmakers relied on unverified figures during the hearings and that including Mr. Carpio’s financial transactions in the proceedings amounted to “selective justice” and violated privacy rights.

Mr. Carpio has filed a criminal complaint before the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office against people involved in the disclosure of his bank records, citing violations of the Bank Secrecy Law, the Anti-Money Laundering Act and the Data Privacy Act.