Sara Duterte Says She Has ‘No Feelings’ As Articles Of Impeachment Transmitted To The Senate

Vice President Sara Duterte was mum after the House of Representatives overwhelmingly voted to impeach her for the second time, launching the transmittal of the articles of impeachment to the Senate for trial.

“I have no feelings about the impeachment,” Duterte said this week in an interview in The Hague, Netherlands.

“A spokesperson and defense team have already been assigned for the impeachment. And that is a legal process. So, we’ll just leave it to the spokesperson and the lawyers to comment,” Duterte added.

Two hundred fifty-seven House members voted to have Duterte impeached, against the 25 votes from her allies. Nine voted to abstain.

Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano assured the public on Wednesday, May 13, that the upper chamber would not delay the impeachment trial of Duterte.

The House of Representatives transmitted to the Senate the articles of impeachment on Wednesday night, May 13, amid an alleged shooting inside the building.

House Secretary General Cheloy Garafil delivered the articles at about 7:20 p.m.

Senate Secretary Mark Llandro Mendoza received the articles, Garafil confirmed.

As this developed, multiple shots were fired by officers of the Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms (OSAA), accompanied by armed Philippine Marines.

Minutes after the shooting, at about 8 p.m., OSAA members allowed House contingents to deliver the boxes containing the Articles of Impeachment.

Sen. Imee Marcos earlier dared the House on Wednesday to transmit Duterte’s articles of impeachment to the Senate immediately, questioning the time the chamber was taking to reproduce “voluminous documents.”

“The excuse that the House is still reproducing ‘voluminous documents’ is flimsy, unacceptable and difficult to take seriously. The House has dozens, if not hundreds, of personnel at its disposal, backed by full administrative, legal, records, printing and information-technology support,” Marcos said in a statement.

Garafil said the chamber needed to ensure the copies of articles forwarded are accurate.

Marcos, however, dismissed this as “pretend(ing) that paperwork has suddenly become an insurmountable obstacle.”

For his part, House public accounts committee chairman and Bicol Saro party-list Rep. Terry Ridon made assurances on Wednesday that it will transmit at the soonest possible time to the Senate the four Articles of Impeachment.

Ridon said they respect the position taken by Marcos, but noted that under the Constitution, no specified time was made in terms of sending the articles to the Senate for purposes of a full-blown trial.

Besides, he explained further, no less than the Supreme Court made additional and more stringent impeachment guidelines when it nullified in July 2025 the first impeachment against Duterte.

“This is why we are being more cautious in making sure that all the SC guidelines have been religiously complied with, along with the due process requirements,” he said.

Possible dismissal

The public should keep an eye on the possibility that Duterte’s impeachment trial might not prosper through her motion to dismiss or a vote by the new members of the Senate majority that could favor the idea, election lawyer Romulo Macalintal said.

In an opinion sent to The Philippine STAR on Wednesday, Macalintal wrote, “The real issue we must monitor is not whether the trial begins, but how it might be resolved.”

“There is a strong possibility that when the Vice President is summoned to answer the charges, her legal team will include or incorporate in her answer a motion to dismiss the case or a motion to quash the Articles of Impeachment,” he explained.

He said, “The Vice President may reiterate arguments she raised in the House of Representatives regarding alleged violation of her right to due process; that the case is politically motivated or lack of factual basis of the complaint.”

Such a motion to dismiss “would only require a simple majority vote – or at least 13 senators,” similar to the tally that changed the Senate majority bloc.

House Deputy Speaker Jay Khonghun scoffed at Senator Marcos on Wednesday for repeatedly insinuating that congressmen were paid to impeach Duterte.

Carpio adds SEC, IC to complaint

Duterte’s husband Manases Carpio added the heads of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Insurance Commission (IC) as respondents in a criminal complaint over the alleged illegal disclosure of bank records.

In an addendum filed with the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office on Wednesday, SEC Chairman Francis Edralin Lim and IC Commissioner Reynaldo Regalado were named as additional respondents.

Carpio alleged the AMLC leaked private transactions including insurance payments, time deposits, investments and utility bills in violation of money laundering, bank secrecy and data privacy laws.

Under the Anti-Money Laundering Act, the council is composed of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) governor as chairman and the heads of the IC and the SEC as members.

He claimed the officials conspired to divulge confidential financial information during a House committee on justice hearing on April 22.

Carpio had initially filed a complaint against BSP Governor and AMLC chairman Eli Remolona Jr., AMLC executive director Ronel Buenaventura, lawmakers Gerville Reyes-Luistro, Percival Cendaña, Jose Manuel Diokno and Leila de Lima and several John and Jane does.

Carpio said that as the law requires the AMLC to act unanimously, the council members are responsible for the public testimony of Buenaventura. He cited reply-letters from Lim and Regalado as evidence that the disclosure occurred with their prior knowledge.

“The AMLC maintains that its actions are undertaken strictly in accordance with the law and its institutional mandate,” Lim said in a reply-letter dated May 4, according to the filing.

Regalado also replied in correspondence that the council’s actions fell within the bounds of its legal authority.

Carpio contended that these responses prove the disclosure of his and his wife’s bank records was authorized by the full council. – With Delon Porcalla, Daphne Galvez, Ghio Ong