Vice President Sara Duterte (Ellson Quismorio/ MANILA BULLETIN)

Various civil society groups, including victims of extrajudicial killings (EJKs), filed on Monday, Dec. 2 an impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte at the House of Representatives.

The filing began at around 2:30 p.m. at the office of House Secretary General Reginald Velasco. 

Former senator Leila de Lima led the filers, but only in the capacity of spokesperson for the group. The filers trickled inside Velasco's office amid a media rush.

Teresita Quintos Deles; Fr. Flavie Villanueva; Fr. Robert Reyes; Randy de los Santos, uncle of alleged EJK victim, Kian delos Santos; leaders of civil service organizations, religious groups, and sectoral groups also took part in the filing. 

"Seventeen signatories are filing this in their personal capacity, even if they are members of various groups or of various part-lists, et cetera," said De Lima, the first nominee of ML Party-list.

The grounds for the impeachment complaint include culpable violation of the Constitution, betrayal of public trust, birbery, graft and corruption, and other high crimes. 

"The majority of the grounds are here," De Lima said. She noted that only the ground missing was treason. 

At 4:20 p.m., Velasco arrived and declared that he was "ready to receive" the complaint.

The documents were deemed officially filed 10 minutes later. 

A key component of the complaint is its endorsement by a sitting member of the House, and this was carried out by Akbayan Party-list Rep. Perci Cendaña alongside the filing of the different groups.

"Today, I formally endorse the first-ever and historic impeachment complaint filed by our citizens against Vice President Sara Duterte," Cendaña said in a prepared statement.

"This moment marks a critical juncture in our nation's demand for accountability. I stand in full support of the brave citizens calling for Duterte to answer for her blatant violations of the Constitution, egregious corruption and complicity in mass murder," he said.

Cendaña says the effort to hold Sara Duterte accountable is inseparable from the broader campaign to make her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, and their allies "answer for their high crimes". 

"The Duterte regime's bloody war on drugs claimed tens of thousands of lives, leaving behind a trail of grieving families demanding justice, losure, and healing. Such closure remains elusive while the perpetrators of these atrocities continue to evade accountability and cling to power," said the Akbayan solon.

An impeachment complaint sans a solon's endorsement is nothing more than a piece of paper; with an endorsement, it has fulfilled its first requirement toward unseating an elected official, in this case Vice President Duterte.

Francis Aquino Dee, Leah Navarro, Sylvia Estrada Claudio, Alicia Murphy, Sr. Mary Grace de Guzman, SFIC, and former Magdalo Party-list Rep. Gary Alejano, were also listed as complainants. 

"The Vice President has reduced public office to a platform for violent rhetoric, personal enrichment, elitist enitlement and a shield for impunity. Her actions desecrate our institutions and her continued grip on power insults every Filipino who stands for good governance and the rule of law." Deles said.

The filing came after President Marcos made an appeal to House members not to pursue the impeachment of Vice President Duterte, whom he described as "unimportant."

Monday's impeachment rap filing also took place in the backdrop of the Vice President Duterte's less than warm relations with the lower chamber. The House, through the Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability, has been investigating the alleged misuse of P612.5-million confidential funds under the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd).

Amid these developments, Duterte grabbed headlines when she issued death threats against President Marcos, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and House Speaker Martin Romualdez. 

The impeachment complaint contained a total of 24 articles of impeachment, or specific offenses based on the five grounds cited. Theoretically, those who are seeking to impeach the Vice President only need to prove one of these articles to secure her ouster.

(With reports from Dexter Barro II)