MANILA — The House of Representatives of the Philippines is scheduled to hold a historic plenary vote on Monday to affirm the Committee on Justice report finding probable cause in the impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte.

The vote follows weeks of hearings and presentation of documentary evidence and will pave the way for the transmittal of the four Articles of Impeachment to the Senate for trial.

Justice Committee chair Gerville Luistro said the panel is ready to defend its findings before the plenary.

“We are anticipating that this coming Monday, we will be given the opportunity to defend the committee report, to defend the findings of probable cause, to defend the Articles of Impeachment,” Luistro said.

The House Justice Committee earlier voted 53-0 to approve the impeachment complaint and later adopted the committee report and resolution with a 55-0 vote, consolidating the Articles of Impeachment for plenary consideration.

Under the Constitution, at least one-third of the 318-member House, or 106 votes, is needed to approve the Articles of Impeachment for transmission to the Senate.

Luistro said the voting will be done through nominal voting, where each member will publicly cast a yes or no vote, and expressed hope that the plenary would reflect unity similar to that of the Justice Committee.

She said she will personally deliver the sponsorship speech summarizing the proceedings, consolidated allegations, and evidence presented before the committee.

The Articles of Impeachment center on four major allegations.

The first involves alleged misuse and irregular disbursement of confidential funds under the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education during Duterte’s tenure as education secretary. Lawmakers examined alleged questionable utilization of P612.5 million in confidential funds, including P500 million under the OVP and P112.5 million under DepEd.

During hearings, the committee also heard claims that P125 million in confidential funds released to the OVP in late 2022 was used within less than 24 hours, based on testimony from self-confessed Duterte “bagman” Ramil Madriaga.

The second article involves allegations of unexplained wealth and discrepancies in Duterte’s Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth and bank transactions flagged by the Anti-Money Laundering Council. The committee cited AMLC findings involving 663 covered and suspicious transactions totaling about P6.77 billion allegedly linked to Duterte and her husband, lawyer Manases Carpio.

The SALN records reviewed showed Duterte’s net worth rising from P7.25 million in 2007 to P88.51 million in 2024. A separate claim involving an alleged P2 billion transaction was later clarified by the Bank of the Philippine Islands as P2 million, attributed to a “system glitch,” according to counsel Peter Paul Danao.

The third article concerns alleged bribery involving cash-filled envelopes marked “HOPE” said to have been distributed to Department of Education officials during Duterte’s tenure as secretary.

The fourth article centers on Duterte’s November 2024 online remarks in which she allegedly said she had arranged for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and then-House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez to be killed if anything happened to her.

The Justice Committee said it reviewed testimony, evidence, and authentication from the National Bureau of Investigation in relation to the video and subsequent criminal investigation triggered by the remarks.