– Vice Pres. Sara Duterte has been impeached by the House of Representatives

– A total of 215 out of 306 House members supported the impeachment complaint against her

– In an interview with News5, Duterte declined to comment on the said impeachment complaint

– The country’s second-in-command said she wanted to review the official statement before reacting

The House of Representatives on Wednesday, February 5 impeached Vice President Sara Duterte after more than two-thirds of the members of the House backed the impeachment bid against her.

In a report by GMA News Online, 215 out of 306 congressmen supported the impeachment complaint, which is now set to be transmitted to the Senate.

This move came nearly two months since three impeachment complaints were lodged against her at the lower chamber, and nearly five months since the House formalized its inquiry into her alleged misuse of public funds as the vice president and Department of Education (DepEd) secretary, Rappler reported.

In an exclusive interview with News5, Duterte gave a short statement on the news. She refused to comment on the latest impeachment bid against her and explained that she wanted to review it first before reacting.

“Mahirap mag-react kung hindi natin nababasa kung ano ‘yung official statement nila. Baka masobrahan o magkulang ‘yung reaction. So, kailangan natin antayin,” said the Vice President.

Under the 1987 Constitution, all impeachment complaints must be filed before the House, as noted by Inquirer.net. However, “there are two ways that a petition can proceed: under Article XI, Section 3 of the 1987 Constitution, a verified complaint can be discussed after the House Secretary General forwards it to the House Speaker, who in turn sends it to the House committee on rules and the committee on justice.”

Sara Zimmerman Duterte-Carpio, commonly known as Inday Sara, is a Filipino lawyer and politician currently serving as the 15th vice president of the Philippines. She is notable for being the third female vice president, the third vice president from Mindanao, and the youngest vice president in the country’s history. Duterte held the position of secretary of education until July 19, 2024. She is the daughter of the 16th president, Rodrigo Duterte, and has served as the mayor of Davao City from 2016 to 2022 and from 2010 to 2013. Additionally, she was Davao City’s vice mayor from 2007 to 2010.

As previously report by KAMI, Vice President Sara Duterte could face an impeachment process if the impeachment complaint filed against her prospers. On December 2, a coalition of different organizations filed an impeachment complaint against Duterte. These organizations include Akbayan, Mamamayang Liberal, Magdalo, some members of the Catholic Church and student leaders. If such complaint prospers and becomes successful, it could remove the vice president from her office.

Earlier, Vice President Sara Duterte made a statement about the threat she issued against Pres. Bongbong Marcos, First Lady Liza Marcos and House Speaker Martin Romualdez. The vice president, in GMA News’ report said that her statement was “maliciously taken out of logical context.” Her statement came after the National Security Council said that it considers all kinds of threats against the president as a matter of national security. She thereafter questioned why was it that she, being a member of the NSC was not invited to the meetings.