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Delon Porcalla - The Philippine Star
March 19, 2026 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — Without any objections, members of the House committee on justice yesterday found the two impeachment complaints against Vice President Sara Duterte “sufficient in grounds,” setting the start of trial proper hearing on March 25.
Reacting to the development, Michael Poa, spokesman for Duterte’s 16-person legal team, said their position remains unchanged: “The complaints suffer from a fundamental defect. They are built on conclusions, speculation and narratives that are not anchored on the ultimate facts required under the Constitution and the Rules.”
On Tuesday night, the House also adopted a resolution authorizing the justice panel to continue impeachment proceedings even during the congressional recess from March 21 to May 3.
House Resolution 892 also empowers the justice panel to implement Section 8 of the Rules of Procedure in Impeachment Proceedings, to “provide adequate protection to a complainant or witness if it is shown that the personal safety of the complainant or witness is in jeopardy because of participating in the impeachment proceeding.”
Asked by reporters on whether the impeachment case will be automatically terminated in case Duterte resigns, justice panel chair and Batangas 2nd district Rep. Gerville Luistro said proceedings must still continue because the “penalty of perpetual disqualification must be resolved as well.”
SC relief eyed anew
Like what they did with the cases filed last year, Duterte’s defense team might again challenge the legality of the impeachment complaints against her before the Supreme Court (SC), one of her lawyers said.
“When it comes to the issue of whether we file a case before the Supreme Court, of course it’s always a possibility but I can’t say anything definite right now. Maybe we’ll just find out for ourselves, if we really decide that there’s something really big that we need to bring to the Supreme Court, we’ll do it,” Poa said over SMNI.
The SC had declared the Articles of Impeachment lodged in 2025 by the House of Representatives against Duterte “unconstitutional,” saying that it violated the one-year bar rule under the Constitution as well as her right to due process.
“First and foremost, as a lawyer, I would like to trust the process. Right now, despite statements being said that might seem biased or have partiality, for me, we need to trust the process and we need to give our lawmakers, and all members of the committee on justice and even plenary, the benefit of the doubt that they will be voting based on evidence, based on conscience. So for us, I don’t want to raise any aspersions against our lawmakers,” Poa added.
He said the burden of proof lies with the complainants.
“They are the ones who filed the complaints, so they should be the ones with the evidence. They always say the Vice President is not answering. Well, the Vice President is not answering because there is nothing to answer right now,” he said.
Poa also denied that the Vice President amassed wealth that would constitute an impeachable offense, claiming that the complainants failed to present ultimate facts to back their allegations.
“Just to simplify, ultimate facts, those are the essential facts. If it’s a crime, those are the elements of the crime that should be acknowledged so that when taken together, we can see that a crime was actually committed. Here, there is none,” Poa told radio dzBB.
Meanwhile, Duterte’s former security chief, retired Col. Raymund Dante Lachica, yesterday denied alleged ties to Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs) and drug money.
“The accusations linking my name to supposed POGO money, drug money and other alleged irregularities are completely baseless. These claims have been publicly repeated without credible evidence and were irresponsibly brought into the public arena before any competent authority had the opportunity to properly evaluate them,” Lachica said, in response to claims by Raymund Palad, counsel of self-confessed Duterte bagman Ramil Madriaga.
Lachica earlier filed a cyberlibel complaint before the Department of Justice Region 11 in Davao City against Madriaga and Palad.
Insufficient
Duterte’s critics from the House have blasted her reply to the charges.
Senior deputy minority leader and ML party-list Rep. Leila de Lima, who backed one of the impeachment complaints, said the Vice President’s answers “failed to controvert the material allegations” raised in the suits.
Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez also scored Duterte, saying her reply “did not have the facts that would constitute the real answer” despite having 16 lawyers in her defense team.
At the same time, Tingog party-list Rep. Jude Acidre hit back at Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco, calling his allegations that lawmakers were bribed to support the impeachment proceedings against the Vice President as “categorically false.”
“There was no bribe. There was no deal. There was no exchange,” he said.
“If there is evidence, present it. If there is none, stop misleading the public,” Acidre dared Tiangco.
Public accounts panel chair and Bicol Saro party-list Rep. Terry Ridon also challenged Tiangco to name names, otherwise he should stop maligning the House. – Jose Rodel Clapano, Bella Cariaso
