No Duterte impeachment talks - House members

Metro Manila, Philippines – There are no discussions on impeaching Vice President Sara Duterte among House members, a lawmaker said on Tuesday, Sept. 24.

House Assistant Majority Leader and Zambales 1st District Rep. Jefferson Khonghun said the House is focused on priorities other than ousting the vice president.

“Sa majority, wala kaming napag-uusapan tungkol sa impeachment. Hindi natin iniisip ‘yan. Ang importante sa amin ngayon ay maipasa on time ang budget, including the budget of the Office of the Vice President (OVP),” Khonghun said in a press conference.

[Translation: We have not talked about any impeachment in the majority. That is not in our minds. What’s important to us now is to pass the budget on time, including the budget of the Office of the Vice President.]

Duterte has skipped House deliberations on the OVP budget at the committee level and the plenary. She herself has raised the ouster issue, claiming that questions about her office’s previous budget are a pretext to an impeachment complaint.

The House appropriations committee recommended reducing the OVP’s 2025 budget to ₱733.2 million from the proposed ₱2.04 billion.

Duterte has not defended her office’s budget, refused to answer questions from lawmakers, and left it to them to decide on the final amount.

Assistant Minority Leader and 1-Rider party-list Rep. Rodge Gutierrez said the vice president’s actions are a “betrayal of public trust,” echoing Kabataan party-list Rep. Raoul Manuel’s remarks.

“‘Di naman pinag-uusapan [We are not discussing it], and you have to consider the degree of the public trust that has been betrayed… But whether it would amount to impeachment, masyadong malayo naman ‘yun [that’s too far],” Gutierrez said.

Quezon 2nd District Rep. Jay-Jay Suarez expressed dismay at Dutertes’ absence.

“Personally, I’m disappointed. I would have expected more. This is such an important part in the budgetary process,” he said.

Suarez said he remains hopeful that Duterte will attend the budget deliberations before the budget approval on Wednesday, Sept. 25.

Members of the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan have called for the impeachment of Duterte for “betrayal of public trust.” It cited her alleged irregular spending of public funds and refusal to respond to questions on confidential funds.