Impeach complaint filed vs VP Sara

House: It’s our constitutional duty to act on complaint

- DELON PORCALLA and MARK ERNEST VILLEZA

Several civil society groups yesterday filed before the House of Representatives a consolidated impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte, primarily hinged on allegations of misuse of her office’s confidential funds.

Tindig Pilipinas, Magdalo and Mamamayang Liberal led by former senator Leila de Lima filed the first impeachment suit against Duterte before the office of House Secretary General Reginald Velasco, where they accused the Vice President of violating anti-graft laws.

The complainants include Fr. Flaviano Villanueva; Fr. Robert Reyes; former peace adviser Teresita Quintos Deles; Francis Aquino-Dee, human rights advocate and the late president Benigno Aquino III’s nephew; Randy delos Santos, uncle of Kian delos Santos and other drug war victims; Leah Navarro; Sylvia Estrada Claudio and former Magdalo party-list congressman Gary Alejano.

Last week, President Marcos had advised his House allies to refrain from impeaching Duterte, even if the Vice President vowed to have him killed if she herself were killed.

“Our complaint is a clarion call to dismantle the culture of violence, corruption and impunity that has marked the Vice President’s leadership,” Villanueva said.

De Lima, first nominee of Mamamayang Liberal and who serves as the advocacy group’s spokesperson, accompanied the complainants during the filing and emphasized the gravity of the charges.

“Public office is not a throne of privilege; it is a position of trust. Sara Duterte has desecrated that trust with her blatant abuses of power. This impeachment is not just a legal battle, but a moral crusade to restore dignity and decency to public service,” the former justice secretary stressed.