Months after taunting President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and calling his cousin Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez as “tambaluslos,”a mythical forest creature whose genitals were so large it covered his face, Vice President Sara Zimmerman Duterte got impeached on Feb. 5, 2025, with 215 lawmakers endorsing at least three impeachment complaints against her, becoming the only vice president in the Philippines to be impeached.
The endorsement was the final nail in Sara’s coffin after senators asked her to seek help- from an analyst following outburst-after-outburst at the Senate and before the House of Representatives panels investigating her spending at least P112.5 million of purported confidential and intelligence funds (CIF) to which she wasn’t entitled by law in a record 11 days in December 2022. She was also on the carpet for spending millions for the rentals of 34 cushy “safehouses” at the most conspicuous place in the metropolis, Bonifacio Global City (BGC), and doling out millions for rewards to her hundreds of “informers” whose job included snitching on school bullies. Worse, the acknowledgment receipts (ARs) from recipients whose surnames were stolen from popular snack brands. All told, she wasted P612.5 million.
The charges are legion, from bogus P15-million expenses for “youth leadership seminars” bankrolled by the Philippine Army (PA) and local government units (LGUs), to leases or purchases of 13 satellite offices and three extension offices at an average cost to taxpayers of P64-million, the enrollment of more than 970,000 poor Metro Manila folk in an organization that may prepare for her 2028 presidential run, the designation of unqualified personnel as special disbursing officers (SDOs) and the dubious disbursements of hundreds of millions of pesos to regional offices of the Department of Education (DepEd) in one day, the payoffs to DepEd officials tasked with awarding projects costing billions, the plagiarism of a picture book produced under Sara’s authorship but which appeared to be a xerox copy of a picture book by an American author, the dispensing of cash like an ATM for students, ailing constituents and orphaned families.
The impeachment endorsed by 215 lawmakers is significant for the sheer number of those who backed Sara’s ouster. It shows that in her continuing battle with Marcos Jr. and Romualdez, she lacked the sympathy of the Lower House. Blame it on her amateurish acting, the disrespect, the absence of “urbanidad” and her bullying of those probing her performance and indolence like ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro, whom she demanded to be kicked out of the probe for having been convicted in a harassment case in the Davao Region, Marikina Rep. Stella Quimbo, who once defended her budget, Kabataan Rep. Raoul Manuel, for questioning her dubious picture book project, and even Gabriela Women Party Rep. Arlene Brosas.
Those who followed the quad committee hearings at the House of Representatives were never amused by the behavior of Sara, who was discovered to have also disbursed more than P2.7 billion in Davao City funds when she served as mayor. Of course, the money was described as CIF, a cash cow for the Duterte dynasty. Those in Congress who had spent months listening to her antics, fatuous legalisms and downright facetious rhetoric as legislators investigated her for corruption, financial shenanigans and even threats on the lives of Marcos Jr. and his wife, Liza Cacho Araneta, deserved more than seeing Sara go scot-free. They did not endure their Sitzfleisch for nothing. So, they got a post-Christmas gift and a Valentine’s Day present: Impeachment.
The move will not only intensify the conflict between the Duterte and Marcos factions but also worsen the problems for the Duterte faction and its minions, who the Marcos Jr. administration may deliver to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for prosecution based on the charges of crimes against humanity as a result of the 30,000 murders in the “war on drugs” and the war against activists from 2016 to 2022. After months of intense criticisms and allegations of widespread corruption, as well as the call for the military to cure Marcos Jr.’s “fractured leadership,” Marcos Jr, finally moved. He tried to disarm the Dutertes by saying he was not supporting Sara’s impeachment and the Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC) even provided warm bodies for a mindless “peace rally” against impeachment, which Sara’s camp claimed was her victory. It was a ruse meant to steal the thunder from Sara’s perorations. The so-called “peace rally” was denounced for not looking into the corrupt practices at the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the DepEd, which Sara also headed before resigning last year.
The petition urged the Senate to transform itself into an impeachment court to try the vice president, “render a judgment of conviction,” remove her from office, and ban her from holding public office.
