DAVAO CITY – The Committee on Justice of the House of Representatives will deliberate on March 2 to 4 the four verified complaints for impeachment filed against Vice President Sara Duterte.
The committee members have been notified of the agenda, which is scheduled to take place at 10 a.m. and will be presided over by its chair, Batangas 2nd District Representative Gerville R. Luistro.
The Committee will deliberate on the complaints filed by former Representatives France Castro, Arlene Brosas, Liza Maza, lawyer Neri Colmenares, and Renato Reyes, Jr., which were endorsed by Representatives Antonio L. Tinio, Sara I. Elago, and Renee Louise M. Co; Francis Joseph Aquino Dee, Sylvia Estrada Claudio, Teresita Quintos Deles, and endorsed by Representatives Percival Cendaña and Leila De Lima; Rev. Father Joel Saballa, and endorsed by Rep. De Lima; and Atty. Nathaniel G. Cabrera, and endorsed by Representatives Bienvenido M. Abante Jr. and Paolo P. Ortega.
Among the grounds cited in the complaints were gross abuse of discretionary powers in relation to the use of confidential funds, gross disregard of the principle of transparency and accountability, disregard of congressional oversight as Duterte allegedly evaded important questions about her office’s expenditures, alleged culpable violations of the Constitution, graft and corruption, bribery, betrayal of public trust, and other high crimes.
Davao City 1st District Councilor Luna S. Acosta, a Duterte supporter and co-petitioner in a petition for certiorari against the first impeachment case filed in the Supreme Court last year, told “Pulong Pulong sa Dabawenyos” on February 24 that the new complaints are bound to fail since there is no basis to impeach Duterte.“If you ask me, the best line of defense is wala naman talagang kasalanan si VP Sara (VP Sara has done nothing wrong). There is no reason to impeach her, so I don’t think this will even reach the Supreme Court. Sa House of Representatives pa lang hindi na matutuloy ang impeachment (The impeachment will not push through at the House of Representatives level). They will not have the numbers, they will not have the support,” she said.
She said the grounds cited in some of the complaints were a “rehash of what was used” in the first impeachment case.
On January 29, 2026, the Supreme Court En Banc denied the motion for reconsideration filed by members of the House of Representatives, which sought the reversal of its July 25, 2025 ruling declaring the Articles of Impeachment against Duterte unconstitutional.
The Court declared the Articles of Impeachment unconstitutional for violating due process and the one-year bar rule under Article XI, Section 3(5) of the Constitution.
Reacting to Acosta, Leo XL Fuentes, co-convener of the STOP Corruption Alliance, said that it is not for the councilor to decide whether the vice president has committed any wrongdoing.
Fuentes said that although the Vice President was impeached last year, he cannot rule out the possibility that legislators, who came mostly from political dynasties, will strike it down this time for “political survival,” just as they did with the impeachment case against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.“The challenge to the people is how to remain vigilant against ongoing corruption. To date, there has still been no proper forum that has addressed the issue of where the confidential funds have gone. It is the same with flood control, which has yet to be accounted for,” he said.
Rauf Sissay, a secretariat member of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN)-Southern Mindanao Region, said Duterte “betrayed public trust by anomalously spending millions worth of confidential funds, and deliberately evading public scrutiny and congressional oversight since last year.”
“They should not speak as if the matter is already settled, and instead allow the impeachment process to run its course. If Vice President Duterte’s camp truly has no fault or wrongdoing, then they should face the process and the public,” he said.
Sissay urged the public to continue demanding accountability from Duterte, Marcos, and other officials implicated in corruption.“The hands of justice will reach them in due course,” he said.
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