Jamaine Punzalan

Vice President Sara Duterte announces her intention to run for the presidency in the 2028 national elections during a press conference at the Office of the Vice President (OVP) headquarters in Mandaluyong City on Wednesday, February 18, 2026. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News

Article (news)

VP SARA DUTERTE

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/177336625895020260218-vp-sara-duterte-presidency-MT5 (1).jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Vice President Sara Duterte announces her intention to run for the presidency in the 2028 national elections during a press conference at the Office of the Vice President (OVP) headquarters in Mandaluyong City on Wednesday, February 18, 2026. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News</span></span></span></div><p>MANILA — Vice President Sara Duterte questioned Friday a lawmaker’s call for the House Committee on Justice to <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/3/12/diokno-asks-house-panel-to-take-custody-of-madriaga-for-sara-duterte-impeachment-proceedings-0956">take custody of Ramil Madriaga</a> “to ensure his safety and availability to testify” in the impeachment proceedings against her. </p><p>Akbayan Party List Rep. Chel Diokno made the motion in a March 5 letter addressed to House panel Chairperson Gerville Luistro, noting that Madriaga is a “material witness” in the impeachment proceedings against Duterte. </p><p>Madriaga, who claimed to be Duterte’s alleged former bagman, is currently detained in a jail facility in Taguig City for alleged kidnapping. The Vice President denied Madriaga’s claim and<a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/3/4/sara-duterte-madriaga-perjury-complaint-0951"> filed a perjury complaint </a>against him last week. </p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/3/5/madriaga-threatened-inside-jail-lawyer-says-1720">Madriaga threatened inside jail, lawyer says</a></div><p>“Even more disturbing is the treatment now being extended to Madriaga, an alleged kidnapper who fabricated an entire story,” Duterte said. </p><p>“The request that he be given special treatment in the House of Representatives is a grave insult to the minor victim who was traumatized by his criminal acts,” she said in a statement. </p><p>In his letter, Diokno also urged the committee to immediately compel the production of key records he said are necessary “to fulfill its mandate of evaluating the evidence in order to decide if sufficient grounds for impeachment exist.”</p><p>He asked the House panel to subpoena duly certified true copies of Duterte’s Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALNs) for 2022 to 2025, 2007 to 2013, and 2016 to 2022, as well as the National Bureau of Investigation’s records on its investigation into her alleged threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. </p><p>Diokno also sought a subpoena for the Anti-Money Laundering Council to submit a certification under oath on whether it has any records involving covered and or suspicious transactions linked to Duterte. </p><p>“This only reinforces what I have been saying all along. There is no sufficient evidence to warrant an impeachment case against me,” Duterte said of the proposed subpoenas. </p><p>“The Committee cannot conduct an investigation to search for evidence to support accusations already made in the impeachment complaints. Doing so would amount to a third ‘fishing expedition’ by the House of Representatives,” she added.   </p><p>“Now we are witnessing yet another desperate attempt to search for evidence where none exists. Let me say this again for the nth time: The impeachment is a political attack designed to protect certain individuals and advance personal and foreign interests,” the Vice President asserted.       </p><p>Duterte, who in February <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/2/18/sara-duterte-to-run-for-president-1102">announced a 2028 presidential bid, </a>was impeached last year, only for the Supreme Court to toss the case out over procedural issues.</p><p>Under the Philippine constitution, an impeachment by the House of Representatives triggers a Senate trial, where a guilty verdict would ban Duterte from elected office for life.</p><p>The new impeachment complaints against her were ruled<a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/3/2/house-sara-duterte-impeachment-sufficient-in-form-1325"> &quot;sufficient in substance&quot;</a> by a vote of 54-1 this month. She was given 10 days to <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/3/5/sara-duterte-given-10-days-to-answer-impeachment-complaints-1154">respond </a>before the start of a hearing of probable cause necessary to move the complaints to a House vote.</p><div><strong>— With a report from Agence France-Presse </strong></div><div><br style="caret-color:rgb(0, 0, 0);color:rgb(0, 0, 0)"/></div><div><iframe width="827" height="465" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bZvC39iLBX4" title="Sara Duterte itinangging kilala si Ramil Madriaga | TV Patrol" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><iframe width="726" height="408" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tyhtVhRhW0U" title="Madriaga ready to testify in impeachment proceedings vs VP Sara | ABS-CBN News" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div>

<p>Vice President Sara Duterte questioned Friday a lawmaker’s call for the House Committee on Justice to take custody of Ramil Madriaga “to ensure his safety and availability to testify” in the impeachment proceedings against her.</p>

Vice President Sara Duterte questioned Friday a lawmaker’s call for the House Committee on Justice to take custody of Ramil Madriaga “to ensure his safety and availability to testify” in the impeachment proceedings against her.

Sara Duterte slams ‘disturbing’ bid for House custody of Madriaga

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Sara Duterte slams ‘disturbing’ bid for House custody of Madriaga

Jamaine Punzalan

Published Mar 13, 2026 09:51 AM PHT

Read More:

Sara Duterte

Duterte impeachment

impeachment

House of Representatives

Ramil Madriaga

Madriaga

Chel Diokno

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