Vice President Sara Duterte said the move to request a subpoena for certain records in connection with the impeachment proceedings against her only shows that there is insufficient evidence to support the case.
The Vice President made the remark after House Deputy Minority Leader and Akbayan Party-list Rep. Chel Diokno asked the House Committee on Justice to issue a subpoena duces tecum to secure key documents, including Duterte’s Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALNs).
Diokno said the documents are needed for the committee “to fulfill its mandate of evaluating the evidence in order to decide if sufficient grounds for impeachment exist.”
In a statement, Duterte said the request reinforces her earlier position that the complaints against her lack evidence.
“This only reinforces what I have been saying all along. There is no sufficient evidence to warrant an impeachment case against me,” she said.
House leaders earlier said the committee has the authority to subpoena and examine the Vice President’s bank records as part of the impeachment process.
Under Section 2 of the Bank Secrecy Act of the Philippines, bank deposits are generally confidential, but may be examined in certain cases, including impeachment proceedings.
However, Duterte argued that the committee’s earlier finding that the impeachment complaints were sufficient in substance should already mean that the allegations are backed by evidence.
“The Committee cannot conduct an investigation to search for evidence to support accusations already made in the impeachment complaints. Doing so would amount to a third ‘fishing expedition’ by the House of Representatives,” she said.
Duterte said the first alleged “fishing expedition” occurred during the 2024 budget hearings, followed by the hearings of the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability, where the issue involving “Mary Grace Piattos” was raised.
“Now we are witnessing yet another desperate attempt to search for evidence where none exists,” she added.
The Vice President also described the impeachment effort as a political attack.
“Let me say this again for the nth time: The impeachment is a political attack designed to protect certain individuals and advance personal and foreign interests,” Duterte said.
She further said that the continued attacks by the Office of the President of the Philippines and the House of Representatives of the Philippines amid tensions in the Middle East are an “insult” to overseas Filipino workers, the poor, and Filipino families affected by the crisis.
On March 4, the House Committee on Justice found the impeachment complaints against Duterte sufficient in substance.
The complaints accuse the Vice President of betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of the Constitution, among other allegations, including the supposed misuse of ₱612.5 million in confidential funds and an alleged threat against Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his family.
