In December 2024, four impeachment complaints were formally filed against Sara Duterte, the vice president of the
Philippines under President Bongbong Marcos. The measure was approved by the House of Representatives on February 5, 2025,
paving the way for a trial to proceed in the Senate. Duterte became the first vice president of the Philippines to be impeached,
but will continue to hold office pending a final verdict by the Senate.
Background
Relationship between Marcos and Duterte
Bongbong Marcos and Sara Duterte were elected as president and vice president, respectively, in the 2022 Philippine election as
part of the UniTeam alliance.[2]
Duterte was appointed as Marcos's first secretary of education after they both took office in mid-2022,[3] although she preferred to
be secretary of defense.[4] Over the next two years, Duterte's relationship with Marcos's allies deteriorated, particularly
with House Speaker Martin Romualdez and first lady Liza Araneta.[3] She resigned in May 2023 from Lakas–CMD where she served
as chairperson. Lakas is part of the ruling coalition. [5][6] In January 2024, President Marcos insisted that the UniTeam is still
"vibrant", referring to his working relationship with his deputy. [7] Duterte tendered her resignation from her position as education
secretary in June 2024.[8] When asked about her friendship with Marcos in September 2024, she said they were never friends and
merely running mates in the 2022 elections.[9] Marcos responded by saying he was "deceived" about their supposed friendship.
[10]
In October 2024, she detailed her fallout with Marcos, who she says "does not know how to be president". [11][12]
Assassination threat
During a midnight press conference on November 22, 2024, initiated by Zuleika T. Lopez, Duterte claimed to have spoken with
a contract killer to target President Marcos, his wife Liza, and House Speaker Romualdez in the event of her assassination, which
the administration deemed an "active threat" against the government. [13][14] She made the statement in response to a vlogger's
question over her security.[15] At the time, Duterte had been resisting the transfer of Lopez by House authorities to
the Correctional Institution for Women.[16][17] Duterte later clarified that her remarks were not serious threats but rather a
reflection of her fear for her personal safety after hearing threats against her. [18][19]
On November 29, Marcos confirmed that he had directed the House of Representatives to refrain from filing an impeachment
motion against Sara Duterte. This is despite his rift with Duterte which he described as a "a storm in a teacup" and maintained
that any potential effort to impeach his deputy would be a waste of time that it "does not make a difference to even one single
Filipino life".[20]
Confidential funds controversy
Duterte (far right) refused to take an oath at a congressional hearing on her office's budget utilization in September 2024.
This section is an excerpt from Sara Duterte § Confidential funds controversy.[edit]
In 2022 and 2023, Duterte made use of confidential and intelligence funds for both the OVP and DepEd; the OVP under her
predecessor did not make use of confidential funds. According to Duterte's chief of staff, due to the OVP's compartmentalized
structure, she handled her confidential funds in direct coordination with her office's special disbursing officer Gina F. Acosta
without any intermediary.[21][22][23]
In 2024, the lower chamber's Committee on Good Government started investigations against the vice president's alleged misuse
of funds after the approval of the 2025 OVP budget was deferred. On September 25, a former DepEd undersecretary alleged that
Duterte gave out cash gifts worth ₱50 thousand monthly;[24] later on, another former official also came forward, claiming that they
received similar envelopes but had stopped by late 2023, around the same time the issue of confidential funds was raised. [25] By
November 2024, acknowledgement receipts from her offices submitted to the COA were revealed. Several lawmakers have
expressed their doubts on the authenticity of the receipts, highlighting irregularities such as uncommon and allegedly fictitious
names as well as discrepancies in the dates and signatures. [26][27] Duterte claimed that she has not seen the receipts.[28] On
December 9, 2024, the Philippine Statistics Authority reported that the names of 60% of the 677 individuals that were named as
recipients of confidential funds from DepEd had no records in the national civil registry.[29]
South China Sea
This section is an excerpt from Sara Duterte § Foreign issues.[edit]
Duterte has been noted for not issuing explicit statements on the dispute between the Philippines and China in the South China
Sea. She has declined to comment on the matter, instead deferring people to the Department of Foreign Affairs and
the Department of National Defense when queried on such matters.[30][31] For this, she received criticism by some officials,
including by allies of Marcos in the House of Representatives[32][33] and Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson for the West
Philippine Sea Jay Tarriela.[34][35] President Bongbong Marcos defended Duterte, saying "that's not the role of the Vice President or
the Secretary of Education to talk about China".[36]
Prior impeachment plans
The Makabayan bloc considered filing an impeachment case against Duterte back in August 2023 over alleged misuse of
confidential funds of the Office of the Vice President for 2022.[37] The plan was later judged as "premature".[38]
In August 2024, Sara Duterte said she expects an impeachment case to be filed against her following her fallout with the
president and information she heard from allies within the lower house. [39] In September 2024, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan has
described impeachment of Duterte as necessary over her use of confidential funds in 2022 and 2023. [40] In the same month, the
House of Representatives have denied any plot to file an impeachment complaint. [41]
Complaints
December 2024 complaints
In December 2, 2024, the first formal impeachment case was lodged against Vice President Sara Duterte.[42] The complaint listed
24 articles which was categorized in four points: graft and corruption, bribery, betrayal of public trust, and other high crimes.
[43]
Aside from corruption, other cited reasons include her alleged role in the extrajudicial killings of the drug suspects and failure
to make a stance against China's aggressive sovereignty claims in the South China Sea dispute.[42]
The second impeachment complaint against Duterte was filed on December 4, 2024, by 70 activists led by the Bagong Alyansang
Makabayan.[44][45] They cited a single reason which is betrayal of public trust over the illegal use and mishandling of confidential
funds. Duterte is accused of committing "gross abuse of discretionary powers" over the ₱612.5 million confidential funds of
the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education.[44][46][47]
On December 5, 2024, House Secretary General Reginald Velasco disclosed that a third complaint by select members of
the House of Representatives was being prepared.[48] The complaint was filed by a group of religious workers, lawyers and civil
society workers in the House of Representatives against Duterte on December 19 for betrayal of public trust. [49]
House of Representatives
On February 5, 2025, 215 members of the House of Representatives signed an impeachment complaint against Duterte on
charges that include corruption, plotting to assassinate President Bongbong Marcos, involvement in extrajudicial killings and
incitement to insurrection and public disorder. The impeachment complaint attained more than the minimum 102 signatures, or
1/3rds of the House of Representatives as required in the Constitution. With the signature threshold reached, the impeachment
complaint constitutes as the formal Articles of Impeachment against Duterte and was transmitted to the Senate without a plenary
vote. This marks the fourth complaint filed against Duterte.[50] The next day, representatives Rodge Gutierrez and Zia Alonto
Adiong said that the number of signees to the impeachment complaint had reached 239. [51]
Among the signatories of the impeachment complaint was President Marcos's son, Ilocos Norte representative Sandro Marcos,
and Speaker Romualdez. At least 101 lawmakers from Luzon and 40 from the Visayas also signed the complaint. In Duterte's
home island of Mindanao, 41 of its 60 district representatives supported impeachment. However, in her native Davao Region,
only Davao del Sur representative John Tracy Cagas signed the complaint out a total of 11 district representatives. Thirty-three of
61 party-list representatives also supported impeachment.[52]
Articles of Impeachment
These are the Articles of Impeachment against Vice President Sara Duterte:
The third article concerns the allegation that Duterte bribed high ranking Department of Education officials while the fifth article
involves her linkage to extrajudicial killings which happened during her father and former president Rodrigo Duterte's war on
drugs, including the Davao Death Squad.[53]
# Case Violation
Betrayal of public
trust
Contracting an assassin and plotting to murder or assassinate the incumbent president, the first
1 Culpable violation of
lady, and speaker of the House of Representatives, as publicly admitted by her in a live broadcast.
the constitution
Other high crimes
Betrayal of public
Misuse and malversation of confidential funds appropriated to the Office of the Vice President (OVP)
2 trust
and the Department of Education (DepEd)
Graft and corruption
Betrayal of public
trust
3 In Violation of Republic Act No. 3019
Bribery
Graft and corruption
Culpable violation of
Amassing unexplained wealth and failing to disclose all her properties and interests in properties in
the constitution
4 her statement of assets and net worth (SALN), in Violation of Section 17, Article XI of the 1987
Betrayal of public
Philippine Constitution.
trust
5 High crime of murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Other high crimes
Betrayal of public
By herself and/or in concert with others, committed acts of destabilization and sedition and
6 trust
insurrection.
Other high crimes
Betrayal of public
trust
7 Totality of Respondent's conduct as Vice-President, including her commission of the foregoing acts Culpable violation of
the constitution
Graft and corruption
