House Deputy Speaker La Union 1st district Rep. Paolo Ortega V believes that the "committee track" is the best way to pursue Vice President Sara Duterte's impeachment case this year.

Ortega had this to say amid speculation that there weren't enough supporters in the House of Representatives to trigger the initiation of the impeachment complaint via the "fast-track mode", which required the endorsement of one-third of the chamber (105 out 316).

"Mas mainam siguro na ganun (It's probably better that way). Since nagkaroon tayo ng Supreme Court (SC) issues before (Since we encountered issues with the SC before), I think this is where it's heading," he said.

Initiation of the impeachment proceedings via the committee track means that the House plenary will refer the existing impeachment complaints to the Committee on Justice, which would then hold hearings.

The subject of the complaints would be declared "impeached" if the congressmen adopt the justice panel’s recommendation to forward the articles of impeachment to the Senate. In this instance, the senators are constitutionally mandated to immediately hold an impeachment trial against Duterte.

Meanwhile, the fast-track mode skips the committee hearings altogether in favor of direct submission to the Senate.

Last Feb,. 5, 2025, the House impeached Vice President Duterte outright via the fast-track mode. However, the articles of impeachment sent to the Senate was eventually declared unconstitutional by the SC.

Referring to the imminent committee track initiation, Ortega said: "Mas confident pa siguro ako now dahil uusisiiin ko siya sa committee level. So mas mapag-uusapan, mas mapag-debatehan, mas may-engage yung mga different views from the different legislators. So confident ako na makukuha pa rin yung vote."

(I think I’m even more confident now because I’ll be able to question her at the committee level. That way, things can be discussed more, debated more, and different views from various legislators can really be engaged. So I’m confident that the vote would still be achieved.)

Under the committee track, the recommendation from the justice panel would still need a one-third vote in plenary for it to move forward and start a trial.

At any rate, Ortega said the recent impeachment proceedings against President Marcos followed this mode.

"Nakita niyo naman pati yung impeachment ng Pangulo dumaan din doon. Makikita po natin in the coming days. Sigurado ko nandun kayo lahat (You saw that the President's impeachment went through that path. We will see in the coming days. I'm sure you'll all be there)," the deputy speaker noted.

Asked if the initiation would take place during Monday afternoon's plenary session, Ortega said: "Ang alam ko nasa office na of the Speaker (What I know is it's already with the office of the Speaker). So when we probably have our meeting sa Committee on Rules, we will see if ire-refer na po siya sa Committee on Justice."

There are four impeachment complaints filed so far against Vice President Duterte.