The House of Representatives convenes Monday afternoon for a plenary session with a single item on its agenda: a vote that could send Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment case to the Senate for trial.
The session is called for 3:00 p.m.
To clear the constitutional threshold, impeachment movers need at least 106 affirmative votes — one-third of the 318-member chamber. Pre-session consultations point to a figure nearly double that. Bicol Saro Rep. Terry Ridon said as of last Thursday that roughly 215 lawmakers had committed to vote yes, matching the tally from the first impeachment drive in February 2025. House Deputy Speaker Albee Benitez of Bacolod put the expected count at around 200, adding that representatives from the entire Negros Island Region and most of the Visayan bloc had signaled support.
Voting will be done by nominal roll call, with each member required to publicly declare a yes or no.
Justice panel chair Batangas 2nd District Rep. Gerville Luistro, who will deliver the sponsorship speech before the plenary, said the committee is prepared to defend both its findings and the conduct of the proceedings from the floor.
“I do not want to preempt what number will be able to get during the plenary vote, but because of the numbers that was yielded in the determination of probable cause as well as the approval of committee report, I think these are sufficient basis for us to believe that it will be approved as well in the plenary,” Luistro said.
The four consolidated articles of impeachment were built from weeks of committee hearings. The first article covers the alleged misuse of at least ₱612.5 million in confidential funds — ₱500 million from the Office of the Vice President and ₱112.5 million from the Department of Education during Duterte’s tenure as secretary. The second cites unexplained wealth and discrepancies between her declared assets and financial records flagged by the Anti-Money Laundering Council, which identified 663 covered and suspicious transactions totaling approximately ₱6.77 billion linked to Duterte and her husband, lawyer Manases Carpio. A third article concerns alleged bribery involving ₱50,000 cash envelopes reportedly distributed to DepEd procurement officials. The fourth stems from Duterte’s November 2024 public remarks, in which she said she had arranged for the killing of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and then-Speaker Martin Romualdez should anything happen to her.
The House justice panel voted 53–0 on April 29 to find probable cause, then adopted the full committee report 55–0 on May 4. Luistro dismissed reports that committee members were withdrawing support ahead of the plenary session.
“I don’t know any congressman who is withdrawing his vote or signature,” she said.
Duterte skipped every committee hearing, submitting only a written answer that complainants described as a non-response. Her legal team challenged the legitimacy of the process itself.
“We respectfully maintain that the proceedings before the Committee departed from the constitutional design. Instead of confining itself to the verified complaints and their attachments, the process expanded into matters that properly belong to a full trial,” the defense team said.
A Quezon City regional trial court had already dismissed a petition filed by Duterte’s husband seeking to block the proceedings, ruling that the judiciary cannot interfere with the House in the exercise of its impeachment powers.
If the articles pass today, the Senate would receive the transmittal and convene as an impeachment court. Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said the upper chamber could hold its opening session as early as Wednesday, May 13. Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto has indicated the Senate intends to act promptly. Trial sessions are tentatively set for Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, with Tuesdays and Thursdays reserved for regular legislative work.
Conviction in the Senate requires at least 16 of 24 members to vote guilty — and would permanently bar Duterte from holding any public office. She had declared her candidacy for the 2028 presidential race in February.
