A YouTube video claims that impeachment proceedings against Vice President Sara Duterte have started in the House of Representatives. This is not true.
There is currently no impeachment complaint filed against Duterte. A House committee is just conducting a probe into the alleged misuse of public funds by the Office of the Vice President (OVP).
Uploaded on Sept. 18, the erroneous video’s headline read:
“IMPEACHMENT vs VP SARA SINIMULAN na ng HOUSE of CARDS/ARROYO CHUA NAGKA-INITAN AGAD/VPSD PRESENT (Impeachment vs VP Sara was already started by the House of Cards/Arroyo and Chua had a heated exchange/VPSD present).”
Its thumbnail also bore the text: “IMPEACHMENT HEARINGS VS VP SARA NAGSIMULA NA. CHUA DI NAISAHAN SI VP SARA. VP SARA SOBRANG GALING DI NAKALUSOT ANG MASAMANG PLANO NG COMMITTEE NI CHUA (Impeachment hearings vs VP Sara have started. Chua was not able to outsmart VP Sara. VP Sara is really good, bad plans of Chua’s committee were not able to prosper).”
There is no verified impeachment complaint currently filed by any lawmaker or citizen against Duterte.
The House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability just started on Sept. 18 an inquiry in aid of legislation into the OVP’s alleged misuse of funds, particularly the P73 million out of P125 million confidential funds in 2022. The amount was subject to a notice of disallowance by the Commission on Audit.
It was Duterte who accused lawmakers of trying to impeach her. She said during the hearing:
“Sa totoo lang, hindi naman ang budget ang puntirya ninyo dahil napakadali naman magtanggal ng budget (In truth, it is not the budget that you’re after because it is so easy to remove the budget). What you are trying to do is make a case for impeachment.”
Source: House of Representatives YouTube channel, “COMMITTEE ON GOOD GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY,” Sept. 18, 2024 (1:18:27 to 1:18:46)
In the same hearing, the vice president also refused to take the oath and left immediately.
According to the House Rules on Impeachment Proceedings, a verified impeachment complaint against impeachable government officials, such as the vice president, is referred to the House Committee on Justice.
Once the committee establishes probable cause, it will submit to the plenary a report and a resolution setting the Articles of Impeachment. If these articles receive a one-thirds vote from all House members, the complaint will be forwarded to the Senate which shall serve as impeachment court.
If two-thirds of the Senate rule that an impeachable official is guilty, he/she will be removed from office.
Uploaded by verified YouTube channel SHOWBIZ CHIKA-DORO (created May 21, 2019), the video has received 18,385 interactions.
