Vice President Sara Duterte attends the HOR Committee hearing on Good Governance and Public Accountability at the Batasan Pambansa in Quezon City on November 25, 2024. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News/File

MANILA (UPDATE) — A House lawmaker tapped to play a key role in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte claimed Thursday he does not know who drafted the fourth impeachment complaint that majority of them signed and sent to the Senate. 

House impeaches VP Sara Duterte

On Wednesday, 215 of 306 House members supported a fresh complaint against Duterte, beyond the 102 signatures needed for it be transmitted to the Senate for trial.

'Enough' lawmakers support 4th impeachment complaint vs VP Sara Duterte: House secgen

"Well, hindi ko po masasabi sino pasimuno. Hindi ko rin po alam kasi what happened po. Ito naman po talaga matagal nang pinag-uusapan at pinag-aaralan itong fourth impeachment complaint, but it just so happened na kahapon nagkaroon ng caucus ang party members ng Lakas [CMD]," Manila 3rd District Rep. Joel Chua told ANC's "Headstart".

(I cannot say who initiated it. I'm not privy to what happened either. This has long been discussed and studied and it just so happened there was a caucus for party members yesterday)

Lakas-CMD is the ruling party at the House and is led by Speaker Martin Romualdez.

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Before Wednesday, only three impeachment complaints had been filed at the House of Representatives, none of them forwarded to the Speaker's Office due to a potential "fourth complaint" that House Secretary General Reginal Velasco said he was waiting for. 

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Chua said the articles of impeachment contained in the fourth complaint were discussed during their party meeting in the morning of Wednesday.

He indicated his support for the fresh complaint right away since all of the allegations there had already been discussed in his panel investigation.

"Karamihan dito halos alam na rin namin dahil dumaan na rin ito sa [amin]... Right there and then nakita naman po namin may basis," Chua said, adding that the fourth complaint was more concise than the previous three.

(We already knew about most of the allegations since the committee held hearings on them. Right then and there, we saw there was basis to impeach her)

'RAiLROADED?'

However, a former Marcos Jr administration official allied to the Dutertes said they were blindsided by how fast the impeachment complaint hurdled the House of Representatives.

'Filipinos are watching': Senate urged to kick off impeachment trial of VP Sara Duterte

Instead of tackling the impeachment compliant at the House Justice Committee, the House members opted to put it to a vote in plenary and endorse its transmittal to the Senate. 

"How come that there are 200 members of Congress na nag-sign sa impeachment ni Vice President Sara na hindi man lang na-hearing si VP Sara. They don't know the details of the case," Duterte Youth party-list chairman Ronald Cardema told ANC's "Headstart".

Cardema, who used to be supportive of the President, lambasted some House members who supported Duterte's impeachment for being two-faced.

"Ang masabi ko lang po, ang kakapal naman ng mukha natin sa Kongreso... Lahat kayo lumalapit para magpa-picture [sa kanya], kaya niyong pirmahan ang impeachment," he said.

(All I can say is that they have such nerve. All of you would approach her for a photo, and now you sign the impeachment complaint)

In a separate interview, House Deputy Minority Leader and ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro denied she was offered money to back the impeachment against Duterte.

"Wala akong alam [if money was involved]. Syempre kami nung araw na yon ang [habol] talaga namin ay ma-impeach talaga si Sara pero hindi ako privy kung merong umikot na pera," she told ANC's Dateline. 

(We had no idea if money was involved in the impeachment. For our part, our main goal was to impeach Duterte. I was not privy as to how others decided their votes.)

Vice President Duterte has yet to release a statement following her impeachment, but has repeatedly denied allegations of irregularities at the Office of the Vice President and at the Department of Education, which she led until her resignation from the Cabinet in June 2024.

She said the scrutiny of her offices is related to her possible run for the presidency in the 2028 elections.

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