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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Cendaña issues critical appeal to fellow congressmen ahead of VP Duterte impeachment hearings

Cendaña issues critical appeal to fellow congressmen ahead of VP Duterte impeachment hearings

Published Feb 27, 2026 10:47 pm

At A Glance

  • Deputy Minority Leader Akbayan Party-list Rep. Perci Cendaña has told his House colleagues Friday, Feb. 27 that the weight of the evidence against Vice President Sara Duterte is what matters, not its "newness".
Akbayan Party-list Rep. Perci Cendaña (Facebook)
Akbayan Party-list Rep. Perci Cendaña (Facebook)


Deputy Minority Leader Akbayan Party-list Rep. Perci Cendaña has told his House colleagues Friday, Feb. 27 that the weight of the evidence against Vice President Sara Duterte is what matters, not its "newness".
"I hope our colleagues would carefully study the cases vs VP Sara and decide based on its merits. We believe in the strength of the evidence against VP Sara. Sadly, these never saw the light of day due to hesitation from the past Senate leadership," Cendaña said on Friday, 27.
Cendaña holds the distinction of endorsing the firsr ever impeachment complaint filed against Duterte in December 2024, during the previous 19th Congress.
In the current 20th Congress, he has endorsed one of the four impeachment complaints lodged against the lady official. These complaints will be taken up by House Committee on Justice on Monday, March 2.
"Hindi ito usapin kung luma o bago ang mga ebidensya laban kay VP. Usapin ito kung sapat ang ebidensya upang siya ay ma-impeach (This is not a matter of whether the evidence against the Vice President is old or new. It is a matter of whether the evidence is sufficient to impeach her)," Cendaña said.
"Taking consideration of the weight of the evidence points to such a scenario," he noted.
The deputy minority leader appears to be alluding to the statement issued by the National Unity Party (NUP) on Wednesday night, wherein it said that party members would not support the impeachment if no "compelling new evidence" comes out during the committee hearings.
The NUP is the biggest party in the House in terms of membership, next to the mighty Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD). NUP is also arguably the most influential, next to Lakas-CMD.
"If we want to finally put a decisive conclusion to the impeachment against the VP, the House must do its duty para masimulan na ang trial at harapin na ni VP ang mga alegasyon na dapat two years ago pa nya sinagot (The House must do its duty so that the trial can begin and the Vice President can finally face the allegations that he should have answered two years ago)," Cendaña further said.
Vice President Duterte was successfully impeached by the House in 2025 via the so-called "fast-track" mode. However, the Senate failed to immediately carry out an impeachment trial, and the Supreme Court (SC) eventually declared the articles of impeachment unconstitutional due to a technicality.
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