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Delon Porcalla - The Philippine Star
February 10, 2026 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — A third impeachment complaint has been filed against Vice President Sara Duterte, this time by religious groups and lawyers demanding accountability mainly for her still unliquidated P612.5-million confidential funds.
Lawyer Amando Virgil Ligutan accompanied priest-complainants Fr. Joel Saballa and Fr. Joselito Sarabia in filing the latest impeachment complaint yesterday before the office of House secretary-general Cheloy Garafil. It was endorsed by Rep. Leila de Lima (Mamamayang Liberal) and Rep. Perci Cendaña (Akbayan).
The first two petitions were filed by the Makabayan bloc and civil society group Tindig Pilipinas.
Like the previous suits, the latest complaint accused Duterte – daughter of detained former president Rodrigo Duterte – of betrayal of public trust, graft and corruption, among others.
In an interview with reporters, Ligutan said their complaint is based on the inquiry conducted by the House committee on good government and public accountability chaired by Rep. Joel Chua, which unearthed damaging information that can be considered impeachable offenses.
Among these were the apparent abuse in the utilization of confidential funds by Duterte when she was still concurrently education secretary, and her bold threat aired on video to have President Marcos, his wife Liza and former speaker Martin Romualdez killed.
The latest impeachment complaint also made use of the admission made by Duterte’s alleged former bagman, Ramil Madriaga, of having personally delivered huge sums of money to her chief security aide during the May 2022 presidential elections.
Madriaga, now detained at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City, also claimed that drug lords and Chinese-sponsored Philippine offshore gaming operators bankrolled Duterte’s campaign for vice president.
Missing link
Ligutan expressed belief Madriaga’s sworn affidavit can pin her down with regard to her confidential funds.
“And here comes, out of the blue, providing the missing link – so to speak – on how the VP actually did it. Madriaga’s affidavit narrates how the P125 million was actually spent in December 2022,” he said.
“We attached the DepEd’s Documents Evidence Payments of the Vice President proving, allegedly, how she spends the millions of pesos entrusted to her, being the Vice President and also being the head of DepEd,” Ligutan said.
“And we have the VP herself, she signs certifications saying that she ordered how the millions of pesos, how these should be spent,” he further said. “So we have everything. We have witnesses, we have documents to prove that the VP violated her oath.”
But even without utilizing Madriaga’s affidavit, Ligutan said their 98-page complaint has a solid leg to stand on.
“The case can stand even without the affidavit of Madriaga. Why? Because the Vice President, her two offices, submitted fictitious names as alleged recipients of these millions of pesos entrusted to her,” he explained.
The Vice President said her lawyers are prepared to counter the allegations raised by Madriaga.
“We have actions, but I cannot divulge it to you for now because I am being prevented by my lawyers from talking. I cannot discuss the moves of the lawyers because this will just allow those who are attacking me to prepare the case against me. It’s like they don’t want me to give tips to the other camp on what we are doing,” Duterte told reporters on the sidelines of her dialogue with the survivors and families of the victims of the sinking of Trisha Kerstin 3 two weeks ago.
VP expected complaint
Her spokesman Michael Poa said they had anticipated the filing of the latest impeachment complaint.
“For now, we will continue to closely monitor developments and address these complaints through the appropriate constitutional processes,” Poa said. “I have not yet read the third complaint so I cannot comment on it just yet.”
At Malacañang, Presidential Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro said the filing of another impeachment complaint against Duterte was solely in the interest of justice and accountability.
“Again, the President said whatever should be studied, the process should prevail. There should be rule of law and those who are accountable should be held to account,” Castro sat at a briefing. . - Alexis Romero, Roel Pareño, Evelyn Macairan
