House Justice Panel Gives VP Sara Duterte 10 Days to Respond to Impeachment Complaint

The House Committee on Justice has given Vice President Sara Duterte 10 calendar days to respond to the impeachment complaints filed against her after lawmakers found two of the complaints sufficient in substance.

The directive came during the committee’s deliberations Wednesday on the fourth impeachment complaint filed against Duterte, which includes allegations of unexplained increases in her declared wealth based on her Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN).

During the hearing, Bicol Saro Party-list Representative Terry Ridon pointed out that Duterte’s declared net worth reportedly grew to more than ₱88 million in 2024, from about ₱18 million in 2008.

Ridon cited Duterte’s earlier SALN filings, noting that in 2008 her declared net worth was ₱18,493,617, which slightly declined to ₱18,000,281 in 2009.

“At this point… I will read into the record, Madam Chair, the totality of the net worth of the Vice President from 2008,” Ridon said during the hearing.

Batangas Representative Gerville “Jinky Bitrics” Luistro, chair of the House Justice Committee, asked Ridon about the sources of the figures he presented.

Ridon said the figures were based on official SALN documents and publicly available records, including the most recent SALN released by the Office of the Ombudsman.

“I will present for the record the most recent SALN that had been released by the Ombudsman, Madam Chair,” Ridon said, noting that the initial declared net worth of around ₱18 million served as the reference point for the allegations in the impeachment complaint.

Duterte served as vice mayor of Davao City from 2007 to 2010 before becoming mayor of the city in 2010, the first woman to hold the position.

Ridon also noted that the language used in the impeachment complaint mirrors the articles of impeachment filed against former Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona, who was later convicted by the Senate in 2012.

“We are stating it for the record because this is the precise wording of the Corona articles of impeachment which had proceeded to the Senate and had resulted in a conviction,” Ridon said.

During the hearing, Cagayan de Oro Representative Rufus Rodriguez asked for more specific evidence, including details of bank accounts, to support claims of unexplained wealth.

However, Luistro clarified that complainants and endorsers are not required to present detailed financial evidence such as bank records at the current stage of the proceedings.

With the complaints deemed sufficient in substance, the committee formally directed Vice President Duterte to submit her response within 10 days, as part of the impeachment process.