Metro Manila, Philippines – House Secretary General Cheloy Garafil transmitted the two fresh impeachment complaints against Vice President Sara Duterte on Thursday afternoon, Feb. 5.
“Upon receipt and verification of the complaints and their accompanying endorsements, the Office of the Secretary General forwarded the documents to the Office of the Speaker for appropriate action,” Garafil announced in a press release on Friday, Feb. 6.
Under the rules, House Speaker Bojie Dy should include the complaints in the Order of Business within 10 session days. It shall then be referred to the Committee on Justice after three session days.
The Supreme Court (SC) ruling released on Jan. 28 – which upheld the unconstitutionality of the first impeachment against Duterte – defined session days as calendar days when the House holds a session.
The same court decision said even an inaction on the complaints would mean initiation of the impeachment proceedings.
This means even if the Speaker does not include the petitions in the Order of Business within 10 session days, the proceedings would still be deemed initiated and trigger the Constitutional one-year bar on filing a new ouster bid.
In a statement, Bicol Saro party-list Rep. Terry Ridon, a member of the justice panel, said, the fast track mode in ousting the vice president remains an option.
“This, however, does not preclude one-third of all House members from endorsing articles of impeachment against the Vice President for direct transmittal to the Senate, so long as no plenary referral has yet been made to the House Committee on Justice,” he said.
Two complaints were refiled on Monday, Feb. 2 amid conflicting interpretations on the one year-bar rule or the provision in the Constitution that bars more than one impeachment proceedings against an official.
The first complaint, filed by the Makabayan coalition, cited betrayal of public trust, which stemmed from Duterte’s alleged misuse of funds. It was endorsed by the three-member Makabayan bloc at the House.
The second petition, meanwhile, has five grounds citing culpable violation of the Constitution, graft and corruption, bribery, betrayal of public trust and other high crimes.
In July 2025, the SC ruled that Duterte’s impeachment was unconstitutional for violating the one year bar rule.
More than one third of House members impeached the vice president in February 2025 over betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of the Constitution, among others over alleged misuse of funds, and threats to the presidential family.
The Senate, which sits as the Impeachment Court, archived the case last August, following the SC ruling.
