Jamaine Punzalan

The House Committee on Justice resumes its hearing on the impeachment complaints against Vice President Sara Duterte at the Batasan Pambansa in Quezon City on April 22, 2026. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News

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VP Sara Duterte Impeachment

Rowegie Abanto

ABS-CBN News

<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/177691388162420260422-vp-sara-impeachment-house-of-rep-JC0363.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">The House Committee on Justice resumes its hearing on the impeachment complaints against Vice President Sara Duterte at the Batasan Pambansa in Quezon City on April 22, 2026. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News</span></span></span></div><p>MANILA — Rep. Gerville Luistro of Batangas&#x27; Second District, the chairperson of the House Committee on Justice, on Thursday said the evidence against Vice President Sara Duterte exceeded the necessary standard to establish that there was probable cause to impeach her.</p><p>Speaking on ANC, Luistro noted that documents presented during Wednesday&#x27;s hearing showed that Duterte and her husband&#x27;s <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/4/22/amlc-reports-33-suspicious-bank-transactions-under-sara-duterte-husband-1431">large bank transactions</a> appeared to not match with their combined net worth. The lawmaker also noted  the Vice President&#x27;s <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/4/22/ombudsman-sara-duterte-saln-house-panel-impeachment-1050">non-disclosure of cash and bank deposits for six years</a>. </p><p>This is on top of the <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/4/14/coa-denies-sara-duterte-petition-to-review-notice-of-disallowance-over-p73-m-confidential-funds-1905">notices of disallowance</a> issued by the Commission on Audit for the Office of the Vice President&#x27;s confidential fund use, totaling to P448 million, Luistro added.</p><p>&quot;I think if not at par baka sobra pa sa probable cause,&quot; she said.</p><p>&quot;This is confirmatory also to the allegations in the two impeachment complaints. Sa pamamagitan ng mga evidence na lumabas kahapon at least for the majority of the Justice members, napatunayan nila may basis ang allegations sa impeachment complaint,&quot; she also said.</p><p>Aside from her alleged misuse of her office&#x27;s confidential funds and threat against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Duterte is facing accusations that she illegally acquired wealth and that she failed to truthfully and fully declare her Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN).</p><p>Luistro previously said issues in SALN could constitute betrayal of public trust, one of the impeachable offenses in the Constitution. </p><p>The House Committee on Justice&#x27;s hearings seek to determine whether or not there is probable cause to send Duterte&#x27;s impeachment case to House plenary for vote.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>&#x27;NOT AUTOMATIC PROOF OF GUILT&#x27;</strong></div><div><br/></div><p>Davao City Third District Rep. Isidro Ungab meanwhile expressed doubts on the figures presented at the House hearing on Wednesday regarding Duterte and her husband&#x27;s transactions from 2006 to 2025.</p><p>According to the Anti-Money Laundering Council, a total of P6.77 billion in  &quot;suspicious&quot; and &quot;covered&quot; transactions flowed through the bank accounts of Duterte and her husband, lawyer Manases &quot;Mans&quot; Carpio, during the nearly two-decade period.</p><p>But Ungab, in a Facebook post Wednesday, argued that for Duterte&#x27;s impeachment case, the relevant period should be when she became Vice President. </p><p>&quot;So what happens if we look only at the period from 2022 to 2026? The total is not P3.92 billion. It is around P63.8 million,&quot; he said.</p><p>&quot;That matters because the House narrative is built around alleged misuse of confidential funds, including COA disallowances totaling about P448 million if sustained.&quot;</p><p>He added that an AMLC report is not proof of plunder or malversation but an &quot;investigative lead, not automatic proof of guilt.&quot;</p><p>&quot;In fact, the same AMLC rules protect good-faith reporting whether or not it results in criminal prosecution,&quot; he said.</p><p>But House Committee on Justice member and Manila Third District Rep. Joel Chua stressed that regardless of the amount of covered or suspicious transactions, Duterte had no declared cash on hand or bank deposits from 2019 to 2024 in her SALNs even though the AMLC report showed that she had bank transactions during those years.</p><p>&quot;Ang punto dito ay hindi kung P3.92 billion ba across the years o P63.8 million lang from 2022 onward. Ang punto dito ay kahit magkano pa ‘yan, bakit zero ang dineclare mong cash on hand at cash in bank sa SALN mo? It is a violation of the sanctity of the SALN declaration,&quot; Chua said.</p><p>&quot;Hindi nagtutugma ang ipinapakitang daloy ng pera at ang mismong sinumpaang isinumite sa SALN, at doon pumapasok ang seryosong tanong sa transparency at full disclosure,&quot; he added.</p><p>&quot;Regardless of how much bank transactions Sara Duterte did as Vice President, not a single centavo was declared in her SALN. ‘Yun ang hindi nila masagot nang diretso,&quot; Chua noted.</p><p>The House Committee on Justice will conduct its last impeachment hearing on April 29 when it is set to discuss Duterte&#x27;s alleged threat to Marcos, Luistro said, noting a representative from the National Bureau of Investigation will attend the meeting.</p><p>After that, the panel will vote whether or not there is probable cause to send the Vice President&#x27;s impeachment case to House plenary for vote, she said.</p><div><strong>— With a report from Vivienne Gulla, ABS-CBN News</strong></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEOS: </strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/eDbDKwvVz-E?&amp;t=2s&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9m3re3JlE7o?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/laf66xE8-2w?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>Rep. Gerville Luistro, the chairperson of the House Committee on Justice, on Thursday said the evidence against Vice President Sara Duterte exceeded the necessary standard to establish that there was probable cause to impeach her.</p>

Rep. Gerville Luistro, the chairperson of the House Committee on Justice, on Thursday said the evidence against Vice President Sara Duterte exceeded the necessary standard to establish that there was probable cause to impeach her.

Evidence vs Sara Duterte 'surpassed threshold of probable cause' for impeachment — Luistro

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Evidence vs Sara Duterte 'surpassed threshold of probable cause' for impeachment — Luistro

Rowegie Abanto,

ABS-CBN News

Published April 23, 2026 10:32 AM PHT

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Updated April 23, 2026 11:11 AM PHT

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Sara Duterte

Sara Duterte Impeachment

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