A unanimous vote sealed the House committee on justice’s approval of its committee report on the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte on Monday, with all 55 members present backing the panel’s finding of probable cause and its recommendation for her removal from office.
Committee chair Gerville Luistro of Batangas called for a nominal vote despite the report passing without opposition. Deputy Speaker David Suarez had moved to approve the amended report, which contains the articles of impeachment.
The approved report now heads to the House’s bills and index division, after which the committee on rules takes over to schedule it for plenary deliberation. At that stage, committee officials will sponsor the report before the full chamber, where other members — those who were not part of the justice panel proceedings — may still contest it.
Luistro said May 11 is being eyed as the date for the House plenary to take up the report and vote on whether to adopt or reject it.
The process leading to Monday’s approval spanned nine hearings. The committee opened in early March by examining the two impeachment complaints — one from the Makabayan Coalition and another from the Tindig Pilipinas group. The Makabayan complaint was set aside for allegedly violating the one-year prohibition rule, while Tindig Pilipinas withdrew its complaint to sidestep legal complications.
With the remaining complaint cleared in form and substance, the panel formally notified Duterte, who submitted a consolidated answer on March 16 — within the deadline but one that complainants dismissed as a non-answer. The committee pressed on without a reply from the complainants’ side and moved to evaluate the sufficiency of grounds.
Three clarificatory hearings followed in April. The first, on April 14, examined alleged misuse of confidential funds and testimony-related allegations from Duterte’s former aide Ramil Madriaga. The second, on April 22, focused on unexplained wealth and incomplete disclosures in her Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth. The final hearing, held April 29, addressed Duterte’s alleged threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos, and former House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez.
At the close of that same April 29 session, all 53 members present voted to declare the existence of probable cause — a decision that set the stage for Monday’s formal adoption of the committee report.
