Vice President Sara Duterte speaks to the media, Nov. 25, 2024. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News 

MANILA — A lawmaker on Tuesday appealed to his colleagues to ensure fairness for the impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte. 

Filed by an alliance of civil society groups, the impeachment complaint was endorsed by the opposition Akbayan party-list on Tuesday. It is unclear if it will get the backing of the one-third of lawmakers needed to move to a Senate trial.

VP Sara Duterte faces impeachment complaint

While President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s allies hold a majority in the House of Representatives, he has publicly called such efforts a waste of time.

“Isang naging consideration 'yan ng mga complainants natin,” Akbayan party-list Rep. Perci Cendaña said of Marcos’ statement. 

“Pero sabi nga natin sa dulo, ang loyalty ng mga tao na itong nag-complaint ay hindi naman sa administrasyon, kundi sa taongbayan na nagde-demand ng accountability,” he told TeleRadyo Serbisyo. 

Marcos says row with VP Sara Duterte ‘a storm in a teacup’, tells lawmakers not to file impeachment raps

He said he has not spoken with House Speaker Martin Romualdez, Marcos’ cousin, about the impeachment bid. 

“We hope that eventually the Speaker will give a fair chance in terms of the processes of Congress... I-exercise natin diligently yung ating constitutional function,” Cendaña said. 

“The House has shown integrity in the past and we hope that kind of performance will again be manifested in this impeachment,” he said. 

VP Sara Duterte mum on Marcos Jr.'s recent impeachment remarks

Cendaña said some of his fellow lawmakers thanked him on Monday for endorsing the impeachment complaint.

“Unofficially, nagpahayag na sila ng suporta para sa impeachment complaint,” he said, without giving an exact figure of the ouster move’s backers. 

“At sana mas mabilis nating makuha yung 105 [votes] na yun… We are confident that the House will make the right decision on this,” he added. 

TIGHT TIMELINE 

The complaint seeks Duterte's impeachment on grounds of "culpable violation of the constitution, graft and corruption, bribery, betrayal of public trust and other high crimes", Akbayan said in a statement.

Under the 1987 Constitution and the House Rules, if the verified complaint is filed by at least one-third of all House members, the plenary will endorse the articles of impeachment to the Senate.

But since the impeachment complaint against the Vice President was endorsed by only one congressman, it would have to go through the House Committee on Justice, which would determine its sufficiency in form and substance, as well as hold public hearings and evidence review.

The House Speaker has a maximum of 10 session days from receipt of a verified impeachment complaint to include it in the order of business, and another three session days to refer it to the House Committee on Justice. The committee will have up to 60 session days from referral to submit its findings and recommendations to the House plenary, which shall be calendared for consideration by the house within 10 session days from receipt.

The House will go on break on December 18. It will resume session on January 13 until February 7, before going on a nearly four-month break.

Despite the tight timeline, Cendaña said, “Confident naman ako na kakayanin ng Kongreso yung oras na meron tayo… Congress has shown na kaya niyang maging expedient for urgent measures -- lalong-lalo na ito, isang measure for accountability.” 

“Kung makita ng ating mga kasama sa Congress na ito ay compelling at malakas, I'm sure they will make time and they will make necessary adjustments para ito ay matapos sa lalong madaling panahon,” he said. 

The complaint adds to Duterte's legal woes as she faces a probe into her alleged death threat against Marcos and another inquiry into her use of government funds.

The Vice President insisted that she was being politically harassed for being a "threat" in the 2028 presidential elections.

— With a report from Agence France-Presse