Second impeachment complaint filed against Philippine Vice President Duterte
4 December 2024, 09:14
The daughter of former president Rodrigo Duterte has been accused of misusing government funds.
Left-wing activists have filed a second impeachment complaint against the Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte over her alleged misuse of government funds and demanded that she be permanently barred from holding public office.
The impeachment complaint filed before the House of Representatives by at least 74 activists, including human rights, union and student leaders, reflects the extent of the political hostilities faced by Ms Duterte.
She has not yet commented on the new impeachment complaint, or an earlier one filed on Monday.
The 46-year-old lawyer is the daughter of former President Rodrigo Duterte, who oversaw a bloody anti-drug crackdown while in office.
The killing of thousands of suspects during that crackdown is being investigated by the International Criminal Court as a possible crime against humanity.
Ms Duterte’s top political adversary has been President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, whom she publicly threatened with death in a news conference on November 23.
Government investigators have launched a criminal investigation into her threat against the President, his wife and the speaker of the House of Representatives, a cousin and ally of Mr Marcos.
Ms Duterte has tried to walk back her comments by saying they were not a direct death threat, but rather an expression of concern for her own safety.
The complaint filed on Wednesday accused the Vice President of “betrayal of public trust over the illegal use and mishandling of 612.5 million pesos (£8.2 million) in confidential funds”, according to a statement by the complainants.
The impeachment complaint said that in addition to the alleged misuse of the confidential and intelligence funds, Ms Duterte and her staff allegedly tried to cover up the irregularities by submitting fabricated reports, receipts and documents to the Commission on Audit and deliberately obstructing a congressional investigation.
It said that in December 2022, the Vice President’s office spent 125 million pesos (around £1.7 million) in 11 days during the Christmas holidays for suspicious expenditures, including renting “safe houses”, paying for unspecified confidential information and financing rewards, which it said were not clearly explained by Ms Duterte.
“Wasting the confidential funds is a big betrayal of the people,” said Liza Maza, a leading complainant from the Makabayan political coalition. “This is not just a simple technical violation but a systematic misuse and robbery of public funds.”
“The impeachment is the antidote to impunity,” said Renato Reyes of Bayan, another left-wing political coalition. “Citizens and taxpayers need to hold public officials accountable.”
On Monday, a group of civil society activists, including Roman Catholic priests and pro-democracy activists, filed an initial impeachment case that contained about 24 alleged crimes and irregularities, including her death threats against Mr Marcos and Ms Duterte’s alleged role in the extra-judicial killings of drug suspects under her father’s crackdown.
She was also accused of failing to stand up to Chinese aggression in the disputed South China Sea.
The impeachment complaints will be examined by the House of Representatives, which is dominated by allies of Mr Marcos and his cousin and key backer, House Speaker Martin Romualdez, who also has been politically at odds with the Vice President.
The process could take weeks or months. Congress is to start its Christmas recess on December 20 and resume on January 13. Many legislators will then start campaigning for re-election ahead of the May 12 mid-term polls.
Mr Marcos and Ms Duterte won landslide victories as running mates in the 2022 election, but have since fallen out over key differences.
The two offices are elected separately in the Philippines, which has resulted in rivals occupying the country’s top political posts.
