MANILA — A fourth impeachment complaint has been filed against Vice President Sara Duterte, just hours after she announced plans to run in the 2028 presidential elections.

The complaint was lodged on Wednesday evening by lawyer Nathaniel Cabrera of Lemery, Batangas, and received by House Secretary General Cheloy Garafil at 6:34 p.m., minutes before office work closed for the day. It was endorsed by Deputy Speaker Paolo Ortega V and Manila 6th District Representative Bienvenido “Benny” Abante.

Violation of the Constitution, Betrayal of Public Trust as Grounds

Cabrera said the complaint focuses on alleged threats made by Duterte against senior officials, including President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez. It also cites the alleged misuse of confidential and intelligence funds, failure to fully declare assets, abuse of power, bribery, and other offenses.

The complaint groups the accusations into several constitutional grounds for impeachment: culpable violation of the 1987 Constitution, betrayal of public trust, graft and corruption, bribery, and other high crimes.

Under “culpable violation of the Constitution,” it alleges subversion of the constitutional order and lawful succession system, circumvention of accountability mechanisms for public funds, and failure to truthfully declare her Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth.

The section on “betrayal of public trust” accuses the vice president of abuse of power, cronyism, and conduct inconsistent with her fiduciary duties, as well as public threats deemed incompatible with the dignity of her office.

Further allegations include causing undue injury to the government through irregular disbursement of funds, inducing other officials to violate regulations, and acts amounting to grave misconduct.

Three Complaints Pending in the House

Prior to this, three earlier impeachment complaints were already pending before House Speaker Faustino “Bojie” Dy III. The first two were filed on February 2 by members of the Makabayan bloc and civil society groups. Under House rules, the Speaker has a limited number of session days to include them in the Order of Business.

The latest complaint reportedly overlaps with the previous filings, which also raised concerns over the alleged misuse of confidential funds, threats against officials, and alleged bribery involving Department of Education personnel.

Senior Deputy Majority Leader Lorenz Defensor said VP Duterte’s declaration of a 2028 presidential bid could affect how lawmakers approach any committee report on the complaints. “Sisiguraduhin naman namin sa Committee on Rules na walang delay ito para hindi masabing may bias ang Committee on Rules… The last day would be, I think if we are going to include all the three complaints, it will be March 2,” he said.

Defensor added that the three pending cases would proceed to the House Committee on Justice, but acknowledged that political considerations — including the vice president’s standing in opinion surveys — may influence deliberations.

Previous Impeachment in 2025

The Vice President was previously impeached by the House in February 2025 after more than one-third of its members endorsed a complaint. The Articles of Impeachment were transmitted to the Senate the same day, in line with constitutional provisions requiring a trial to begin once the threshold is met.

However, in July the Supreme Court ruled that the Articles of Impeachment were unconstitutional, citing the one-year bar rule in the 1987 Constitution, which limits the frequency of impeachment proceedings against the same official. A motion for reconsideration filed by the House was dismissed with finality in January.

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