Makabayan bloc representatives welcomed the filing of the third impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte by religious groups, priests, and lawyers, calling on their House of Representatives to immediately act on the three petitions filed so far.
The third complaint, following their own and Akbayan’s earlier complaints, further strengthens the call for accountability regarding the questionable use of confidential funds, Makabayan said.
“The filing of three separate impeachment complaints from various sectors of society shows the gravity of VP Sara Duterte’s misuse of P612 million in confidential funds. We cannot let this grave abuse of the people’s money pass,” ACT Teachers Partylist and House Deputy Minority Floor Leader Rep. France Castro said.
The third complaint cited as grounds Duterte’s misuse of hundreds of millions of so-called confidential funds, including when she was secretary of the Department of Education (DepEd) from 2022 to this year.
Atty. Amando Virgil Ligutan, acting as lead counsel to the third complaint, said they filed the case against Duterte’s “culpable violation of the Constitution, bribery, graft and corruption, plunder, malversation and technical malversation, and betrayal of public trust.”
The 12 complainants were clergy from the Diocese of Novaliches, religious from the Order of Carmelites and the Congregation of the Mission as well as lawyers from Union of Lawyers of Mindanao.
Camarines Sur Rep. Gabriel Bordado and AAMBIS-OWA party-list Rep. Lex Anthony Cris Colada endorsed the complaint.
The first complaint endorsed by Akbayan Party-List Rep. Perci Cendaña accuses Duterte of “culpable violations of the Constitution, graft and corruption, bribery, betrayal of public trust, and other high crimes,” the grounds for impeachment laid out in the Constitution.
The second complaint endorsed by Makabayan focus on Duterte’s alleged betrayal of public trust over the confidential funds.
Act on them already
Makabayan called on the House leadership to immediately act on all three impeachment complaints at the soonest possible time.
“Every day that passes without the complaints acted upon is another day of impunity. The Filipino people deserve to know the truth about how their hard-earned tax money was spent,” Gabriela Women’s Rep. Arlene Brosas said.
Brosas added it is the HOR’s constitutional duty to muster the necessary votes to bring the case to the Senate so that trial can begin at the soonest possible time.
Kabataan Youth Partylist Rep. Raoul Manuel for his part said the allegations are serious against the second-highest official of the country, from the failure to provide documentary evidence, to the use of fictitious individuals for acknowledgment receipts, to the deliberate concealment of actual intelligence gathering activities.
“These are not mere technical violations but point to systematic corruption and betrayal of public trust,” added Manuel.
Sara should not evade
Duterte for her part said she welcomes the complaints, pointing out that her critics had been announcing their filing since last year.
“At least if there is an impeachment case, I could finally reply to their accusations against me,” she said.
Makabayan however said that Duterte’s statement should translate to full cooperation with the impeachment process.
She should abide by her statement and face the allegations without evasion, the coalition of progressive lawmakers said.
“The entire nation is watching the House of Representatives as the clamor for accountability grows. This should not suffer the same fate as previous impeachment complaints that were ignored,” Makabayan said.
“The complaint is a just and legal option that should not be held hostage by electoral considerations,” the coalition added. # (Raymund B.Villanueva)
