All 55 members of the House Committee on Justice unanimously approved on May 4 the committee report finding probable cause to impeach Vice President Sara Z. Duterte. 257 members of the House of Representatives then voted to impeach the vice president on Monday, May 11.
That was the second time VP Duterte was impeached by the lower chamber. Back in February 2025, she was also impeached (by 215 members of the lower house) but then Senate President Chiz Escudero and the other Duterte-allied Senators kept stalling the proceedings until the Supreme Court voided the impeachment from the lower chamber due to technicalities.
This time around, the articles of impeachment were transmitted on Wednesday, May 13, to the upper chamber during the leadership of the Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano (which has a thin majority, btw), and just moments before the theatrical standoff or security charade or phantom incursion (depending how you look at it or depending who you believe), involving the Office of the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms.
On Monday, May 18, the Senate will convene as an impeachment court at around 3 p.m.
The articles of impeachment are the following:
Article I: Respondent Vice President Sara Z. Duterte committed culpable violation of the Constitution, graft and corruption, and betrayed public trust through the systematic misuse, misappropriation, and irregular liquidation of Confidential Funds amounting to PHP500,000,000.00 released to the Office of the Vice President and PHP112,500,000.00 released to the Department of Education.
Article II: Respondent Vice President Sara Z. Duterte committed culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayed public trust when she:
A. Amassed unexplained wealth manifestly disproportionate to her lawful income and earnings during her incumbency as a public official;
B. Failed to fully and truthfully disclose all her and her spouse’s assets, liabilities and net worth in her Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN), including in her SALN for the years 2022, 2023, and 2024; and
C. Failed to divest, and instead, willfully continued, all her business interests during her tenure as vice president of the years 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025.
Article III: Respondent Vice President Sara Z. Duterte committed bribery, graft and corruption, culpable violation of the Constitution, and betrayed public trust when she gave monetary gifts or payments to DepEd officials to induce the violation and circumvention of procurement and other related laws.
Article IV: Respondent Vice President Sara Z. Duterte committed culpable violation of the Constitution, high crimes, and betrayed public trust by contracting for the assassination of the President, the First Lady, and the Former Speaker of the House, by making grave threats, and by actively inciting sedition against the republic.
Read the full committee report and the articles of impeachment (or download it) below. Jump to page 71 if you want to skip the House Resolution No. 989.