ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider House initiates 2026 impeachment proceedings vs VP Duterte

House initiates 2026 impeachment proceedings vs VP Duterte

Published Feb 23, 2026 04:00 pm

At A Glance

  • This year's impeachment proceedings against Vice President Sara Duterte has officially been initiated by the House of Representatives.
Vice President Sara Duterte (Ellson Quismorio/ MANILA BULLETIN)
Vice President Sara Duterte (Ellson Quismorio/ MANILA BULLETIN)


This year's impeachment proceedings against Vice President Sara Duterte has officially been initiated by the House of Representatives.
It was during plenary session Monday, Feb. 23 when all four verified and endorsed impeachment complaints agaisnt the lady official was referred to the Committee on Justice chaired by Batangas 2nd district Rep. Gerville "Jinky Bitrics" Luistro.
Deputy Speaker Iloilo 4th district Rep. Ferjenel Biron, the presiding officer at that time, announced the referral to the justice panel.
The particular committee is expected to schedule public hearings to scrutinize the four complaints in order to determine whether or not they are sufficient in form and in substance.
Monday's committee referral also meant that the House leadership chose not to follow the same path it took in 2025, when it impeached Vice President Duterte outright via the "fast-track" mode.
Despite the outright impeachment, the Senate never held an impeachment trial against Duterte, and the Supreme Court (SC) eventually declared the articles of impeachment prepared by the House as unconstitutional.
Only one impeachment case per year can be pursued against a particular impeachable officer--in this Duterte. 
This committee track of initiation was observed during the recent impeachment proceedings against President Marcos, based on two filed complaints. From initiation to ultimate dismissal in plenary, the whole affair ran from Jan. 26 to Feb. 10, in a House that was predominantly pro-Marcos.
Four complaints 
The Luistro panel is expected to spend more time in deliberating on the quartet of complaints lodged against the second highest official of the land. 
The first complaint, filed on Feb. 2, was lodged by members of the Makabayan Coalition and endorsed by ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio, Gabriela Party-list Rep. Sarah Elago, and Kabataan Party-list Rep. Renee Co.
On the same day, Mamamayang Liberal (ML) Party-list Rep. Leila de Lima and Akbayan Party-list Rep. Perci Cendaña endorsed the second impeachment complaint filed by representatives of progressive organizations and civil society groups.
Then, on Feb. 9, De Lima endorsed the third complaint filed by a group composed of members of the clergy, civil society leaders, and legal practitioners.
Only last Wednesday, Feb. 18, the fourth verified complaint, was filed by lawyer Nathaniel Cabrera. It was endorsed by Deputy Speaker La Union 1st district Rep. Paolo Ortega V and Manila 6th district Rep. Bienvenido "Benny" Abante Jr.
Just like the 2025 complaint that reached the Senate, the four raps this year cited as an impeachable offense the Vice President’s alleged misuse of P612.5 million worth of confidential funds.
The Cabrera complaint in particular flagged the Vice President's alleged failure to fully disclose certain assets in her Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALNs). She may have accumulated unexplained wealth disproportionate to her lawful income, it said.
Under the Constitution, an impeachable officer may be removed from office for culpable violation of the Constitution, treason, bribery, graft and corruption, other high crimes, or betrayal of public trust.
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.