Metro Manila, Philippines – Impeachment complaints filed against Vice President Sara Duterte will be evaluated using the same standards applied in the recently dismissed impeachment bids against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the House justice committee chair said.
House Justice Committee Chairperson Gerville Luistro said the panel would strictly follow established impeachment rules once the complaints against Duterte are formally referred to the committee.
“Whatever parameters, procedures, and deliberations we observed in the impeachment process against the President, we will be adopting as well when we receive the impeachment complaint against the Vice President,” Luistro said in an interview on NewsWatch Plus.
At least two impeachment complaints have already been filed against Duterte with the Office of the House Secretary General, but Luistro said the justice committee cannot act on them until they are officially referred to the panel.
Luistro stressed that the requirements that led to the dismissal of the Marcos impeachment complaints — including verification, personal knowledge of the complainant, authenticated records, and clear linkage between alleged offenses and constitutional grounds — would likewise be enforced in the Duterte cases.
“Definitely,” Luistro said when asked whether the same standards on authentic documents would apply. “That is very much explicit in the rules.”
Earlier this week, the House justice committee dismissed two impeachment complaints against Marcos after finding them “insufficient in substance.”
Luistro said it remains unclear how long impeachment proceedings against Duterte could take, noting that this would depend on how many complaints are filed and the scope of allegations raised.
