Impeachment: If Duterte won’t respond to complaints, it'll go faster
The House Committee on Justice may expedite impeachment proceedings against Vice President Sara Duterte if she does not answer the complaints by Monday's deadline, according to Bicol Saro partylist Rep. Terry Ridon, a member of the committee.
The House Committee on Justice is moving forward with impeachment proceedings against Vice President Sara Duterte, with Bicol Saro partylist Rep. Terry Ridon stating that hearings could proceed as early as the week of March 16, 2026, if Duterte submits her response by the Monday deadline. The committee, chaired by Rep. Gerville Luistro, is evaluating four verified impeachment complaints filed against the Vice President, which triggered a one-year bar on new complaints. These complaints allege various offenses including threats against officials including President Marcos, misuse of confidential funds, undeclared assets, and power bribery.
The committee held its first hearing on March 2, 2026, to determine the sufficiency in form of the complaints, followed by a second hearing on March 3 where it found the third and fourth complaints sufficient in form and began deliberations on their substance. Chair Luistro stated the committee would notify Duterte if complaints are deemed sufficient in substance, allowing her to respond within the prescribed timeframe. Rep. Ridon noted during a March 14 media forum that Duterte's 10-day response period ends by the weekend, potentially enabling hearings to proceed next week regardless of whether she replies.
This current impeachment attempt follows a previous 2024-2025 effort where complaints were filed in December 2024 and approved by the House on February 5, 2025, but were ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court on July 25, 2025, for violating the one-year bar rule. The current proceedings became viable after February 6, 2026, when the one-year bar from the previous attempt expired. House rules require that if the committee recommends proceeding with impeachment, it must gain plenary approval by one-third vote before the case can be sent to the Senate for trial.
Vice President Duterte has criticized lawmakers' focus on her case amid other national issues and questioned demands for more files related to the complaints. The timeline indicates that if Duterte does not respond by the Monday deadline, the committee could move forward with hearings as early as the following week, though this follows standard procedural timelines rather than representing an expedited process beyond normal House rules.
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