Jamayka Rhose Pascual

House Speaker Martin Romualdez has urged vice president Sara Duterte over the controversial use of confidential funds under her leadership, raising the possibility of impeachment.


In a chance interview, Romualdez made the call for Duterte to personally explain the disbursement of these funds by the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and during her time as the Department of Education (DepEd) secretary.

“Dapat lang siyang sumipot at mag-oath, mag-salita at mag-eksplika dahil lahat ng mga opisyales niya… siya lang yata may alam kung anong nangyari diyan sa mga pondo eh. Kaya dapat siya ang mag-paliwanag,” Romualdez stated.

Duterte then showed up on the first day of the House panel inquiry but did nit take an oath.

Several OVP and DepEd officials have been cited in contempt and face arrest for failing to attend the said hearing and the previous hearings.

The House inquiry uncovered irregularities in the liquidation of the funds, including incorrect dates, unreadable, and unnamed signatories.

Further scrutiny revealed that military certifications were used to justify DepEd’s confidential funds without the consent of the military officials involved.

Duterte’s office has also been accused of obstructing the investigation by advising the Commission on Audit to disregard House subpoenas.

The vice president said there was no use in defending her proposed budget for 2025 because Romualdez already controlled the budget allocations.

Romualdez insists Duterte alone must clarify the confidential funds’ use, as her team denies knowledge of such transactions.

“Huwag na niyang ibigay sa mga officials niya sa OVP at sa DepEd. Siya na lang magsalita,” Romualdez argued.

Despite Duterte’s initial appearance in a House probe, Duterte has since declined to attend further hearings, insisting that no irregularities occurred under her office.

"I am appearing before you today not only as the head of office, but more importantly as the newly authorized representative of all officials of the OVP (Office of the Vice President). Simply because we have not done anything wrong," she added.
House good government and public accountability panel chair Joel Chua then added that the grounds for Duterte’s impeachment exist but may be unlikely yet given the upcoming 2025 campaign season.

"Kung tatanungin po sa akin kung may grounds for impeachment, definitely meron po. Ngayon, kung ito po ay magpuproceed sa impeachment, it's a very challenging question dahil alam naman po natin yung sitwasyon natin ngayon," Chua told Unang Balita.

Duterte further denied the allegations on her misuse of funds and claimed that the inquiry is politically motivated to build an impeachment case against her.

"There is no misuse of funds. If there are audit findings, we will gladly respond to them before the Commission on Audit. And if there are legitimate cases to be filed, then we will gladly respond to them before the appropriate courts in relation to this," Duterte said.