MANILA – A group of clergymen, evangelists, pastors, nuns, and lawyers filed a third impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte before the House Office of the Secretary General on Monday, February 9.

In a report, the complainants, who also filed an impeachment complaint in December 2024, said they returned to the House believing that accountability should apply equally.

“If a public school principal could be imprisoned for 11 years for pocketing P5,000, the vice president should likewise be held accountable for millions allegedly misused,” their legal counsel Amando Ligutan said.

“Do we give the vice president a free pass just because she has a famous family name?” he added, stressing that the complainants see unseating Duterte as both a constitutional and moral obligation.

The complaint accuses Duterte of culpable violation of the Constitution, betrayal of public trust, plunder, malversation, graft and corruption, bribery, and other high crimes in connection with her alleged misuse of P612.5 million in confidential funds.

Ligutan said the complaint includes evidence detailing how Duterte allegedly spent millions entrusted to her offices as vice president and as Education secretary. This includes liquidation vouchers, audit findings, and transcripts of testimonies from her staff under oath.

He added that the case could proceed even without testimony from Duterte’s alleged former aide and self-confessed bagman Ramil Madriaga.

“We have certifications from the Philippine Statistics Authority saying that these individuals do not exist. They were not born, they’re not dead. They are what they are — fictitious,” Ligutan said.

Two of the complainants, Fathers Joel Saballa and Joselito Sarabia, said the vice president now has the opportunity to respond to the allegations.

“This impeachment is a legal process grounded in the Constitution, which is why we are here filing it — to give her the opportunity to speak, explain herself, and present her evidence,” Saballa said in Filipino.

The third complaint was endorsed by Rep. Leila de Lima (ML Party-list), who also backed the second impeachment complaint filed by civil society and anti-corruption groups. She described this filing as an “improved version” of the articles of impeachment once transmitted to the Senate in February 2025.

De Lima expects Secretary General Cheloy Garafil to immediately transmit the third complaint to the Office of the Speaker so it can be taken up by the rules committee during its scheduled hearing on Tuesday.

Under House rules, the three impeachment complaints must be included in the House Order of Business within 10 session days, or by February 23. While an impeachment can be expedited with the endorsement of one-third of all House members, there is no confirmation yet whether the same lawmakers who backed last year’s complaint are preparing a fourth filing.