ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Ridon explains why impeachment proceedings vs VP Duterte isn't a 'fishing expedition'

Ridon explains why impeachment proceedings vs VP Duterte isn't a 'fishing expedition'

Published Mar 26, 2026 08:06 pm

At A Glance

  • It can't be a "fishing expedition" if there's an existing allegation that Vice President Sara Duterte needs to answer.
Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Terry Ridon (left), Vice President Sara Duterte (Facebook, PPAB)
Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Terry Ridon (left), Vice President Sara Duterte (Facebook, PPAB)


It can't be a "fishing expedition" if there's an existing allegation that Vice President Sara Duterte needs to answer.
House Committee on Justice member, Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Terry Ridon highlighted this, as he rejected the notion that the panel's impeachment proceedings against the Vice President is one big fishing expedition.
Ridon noted that a major allegation had something to do with Duterte’s statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN).
“Alam ninyo entitled naman ho sila sa opinion nila. Pero the facts are very clear. Mayroon pong kailangang ipaliwanag ang ating Pangalawang Pangulo doon sa discrepancy na kanya pong SALN ng 2007 at 2024,” he said.
(They are entitled to their opinion. But the facts are very clear. Our Vice President needs to explain the discrepancy between her 2007 and 2024 SALN.)
“Fishing expedition lang po ‘yan kung wala ho tayong pinagsisimulang mga dokumento. Ang problema meron, nasa SALN po mismo ng Pangalawang Pangulo,” underscored the lawyer-legislator.
(That’s just a fishing expedition if we don’t have any documents to begin with. The problem is, we do and it’s right there in the Vice President’s SALN.)
Ridon, chairman of the House Committee on Public Accounts, pointed to a “wealth gap” between Duterte’s reported cumulative salary of around P30 million to P50 million in 2007 and her declared net worth of about P88 million in 2024.
During an impeachment hearing Wednesday, March 25, the justice panel ordered the issuance of subpoenas to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to obtain tax records and corporate documents linked to Duterte, her spouse, and their business interests.
Ridon says documents being sought—including income tax returns, value-added tax payments, and audited financial statements—are expected to explain the discrepancy.
The committee's next hearing will be held on April 19. The panel is currently trying to determine probable cause in the two remaining impeachment complaints lodged against Duterte.

Related Tags

Terry Ridon impeachment Sara Duterte fishing expedition
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.