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Delon Porcalla - The Philippine Star
March 30, 2026 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — Regardless what lawmakers and defense lawyers say, it will be the impeachment hearing proper that will determine whether the alleged self-confessed bagman of Vice President Sara Duterte is a credible witness or not, a senior administration lawmaker clarified over the weekend.
Rep. Ysabel Maria Zamora, vice chairperson of the House of Representatives’ committee on justice, said it was premature for anybody to say at this stage that Ramil Madriaga – currently a detainee at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig for alleged kidnapping – is a “polluted source,” primarily because he has not made any testimony yet.
“That is precisely why we are holding impeachment hearings (to determine if he is credible or not). That is our stand on the committee on justice as regards allegations that Madriaga is of questionable character,” Zamora said.
“We’re not saying that we have already established probable cause. We have not declared yet that there is probable cause to forward the Articles of Impeachment to the Senate. In fact, there are no Articles of Impeachment yet,” she added.
Zamora said that argument goes to the heart of what the panel is trying to do at this stage, which is not to declare anyone guilty or to rush the case to the Senate, but to determine first whether the complaint has enough basis to justify the next formal step in the impeachment process.
“There would only be Articles of Impeachment once the House Committee on Justice finds or establishes probable cause. We will be drafting a resolution and attach to that resolution the Articles of Impeachment,” she said.
The Duterte camp has been trying to discredit Madriaga, who executed a sworn affidavit in November 2025 saying the Vice President’s May 2022 campaign was bankrolled by drug lords and Chinese-led Philippine offshore gaming operators.
Zamora hinted that the impeachment hearings may wrap up by the end of May, even as the panel headed by Rep. Gerville Luistro continues to tackle questions over probable cause and the fairness of the process involving Duterte.
“From the time of the initiation or referral to the committee on justice, it’s 60 session days. So, our estimate is… it may be the end of May,” she said during the Saturday News Forum at Dapo Restaurant in Quezon City.
The timeframe matters because the committee is working through a politically charged case, while also trying to show that its members are approaching the proceedings without bias against Duterte, despite public criticism and the intense national attention surrounding the complaint.
On that point, Zamora stressed that confidence in the numbers inside the committee should not be read as proof of prejudice, but as a reflection of how lawmakers assessed the complaints, the annexes and the threshold issues already taken up by the panel.
“The congressmen have read the complaints, and they believe that we are correct in declaring it to be sufficient in form, sufficient in substance, and that the affidavits or the annexes to the complaints are sufficient to show that there is probable cause. Of course, like we said, we will still have to go through the Committee on Justice hearing to declare probable cause,” Zamora said.
She then made clear that having the numbers does not mean the committee has already closed the case or pre-judged the outcome, because the process still has to move through hearings where the panel must determine whether probable cause exists before any recommendation can advance.
