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December 12, 2025 | 4:15pm
2025 Ramon Magsaysay Awardee Fr. Flaviano Villanueva and several others filed a complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte at the Office of the Ombudsman on Friday, Dec. 22, 2025.
Philstar.com / Ian Laqui
MANILA, Philippines — Civic organizations and church groups have filed plunder and multiple criminal and administrative complaints against Vice President Sara Duterte and former officials of the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Office of the Vice President (OVP), accusing them of orchestrating parallel schemes to illegally divert confidential funds.
The complaint was filed Friday, December 12, before the Office of the Ombudsman. It alleges that Duterte “designed, directed, and implemented two parallel and identical schemes within the OVP and DepEd for the unlawful disposition, diversion, and misappropriation” of confidential funds.
“These schemes, executed through different sets of subordinates but following the same operational sequence, evince the unity of purpose and concert of action that lie at the core of criminal conspiracy,” the complaint read.
Respondents named. Aside from Duterte, the respondents named in the complaint are:
- Zuleika T. Lopez
- Lemuel G. Ortonio
- Rosalynne L. Sanchez
- Julieta L. Villadelrey
- Gina F. Acosta
- Col. Raymund Dante P. Lachica
- Michael Wesley T. Poa
- Sunshine Charry A. Fajarda
- Undersecretary Annalyn M. Sevilla
- Gloria Mercado
- Ma. Rhunna L. Catalan
- Edward D. Fajarda
- Ret. Maj. Gen. Nolasco A. Mempin
- Lt. Col. Dennis Nolasco
The complainants accused the respondents of plunder, bribery, corruption of public officials, malversation, graft and corruption, betrayal of public trust, and culpable violation of the 1987 Constitution.
Plunder allegations
The complaint alleges that Duterte “maliciously and feloniously conspired to amass, accumulate, and acquire ill-gotten wealth” exceeding the P50-million threshold required for plunder under Philippine law.
According to the filing, the allegedly misused funds totaled P612.5 million, broken down as:
- P500 million in confidential funds from the OVP
- P112.5 million in confidential funds from DepEd
“The two schemes form a continuous and deliberate system for the illegal disposition of Confidential Funds, executed under Respondent Duterte’s control and with the participation of her subordinates,” the complaint said, adding that these actions resulted in the accumulation of ill-gotten wealth beyond the statutory threshold.
Culpable violation of the Constitution
The complainants also accused Duterte and the other respondents of culpable violation of the Constitution under Article XI, Section 1, which states that public office is a public trust.
They argued that the alleged acts were not isolated violations of law but constituted “egregious transgressions of the Constitution’s highest standard of public service.”
“Culpable violation of the Constitution must be understood to mean willful and intentional violation of the Constitution and not violations committed unintentionally or involuntarily or in good faith or through an honest mistake of judgment,” the complaint read.
Who filed the complaint
The complainants include members of civil society and clergy from the Roman Catholic Church.
Among them are 2025 Ramon Magsaysay Awardee Fr. Flavie Villanueva, activist priest Robert Reyes, and former Finance undersecretary Cielo Magno.
Other complainants include:
- Teresita Quintos-Deles, former presidential adviser on the peace process
- Sylvia Estrada Claudio, UP professor emerita
- Christopher Cabahug, writer and anti-corruption advocate
- Matthew Christian Silverio, youth leader
- John Lloyd Crisostomo, youth leader
Asked for a message to Duterte, Villanueva urged the Vice President to confront the accusations directly.
“Ito ay ginagawa natin para sa katotohanan. Kung sabi mo wala kang kasalanan, wala kang ginawang anomalya, halina, harapin mo ’tong mga ’to sa tamang hukuman,” he told Philstar.com.
(This is being done for the truth. If you say you are not guilty and committed no anomaly, then come and face these accusations in the proper court.)
