Trillanes, group file graft, plunder cases against Sara Duterte
MANILA, Philippines — Former senator Antonio "Sonny" Trillanes IV and a civil society group have filed graft and plunder complaints against Vice President Sara Duterte over her alleged use of confidential funds.
Trillanes and the group The Silent Majority filed the complaints before the Office of the Ombudsman on Wednesday, January 21.
The complaint alleges plunder and malversation involving P650 million in confidential funds from the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd), citing an affidavit from Ramil Madriaga, whom the complainants described as Duterte’s former “bagman.”
The filing also covers the alleged plunder and malversation of P2.7 billion in confidential funds from Davao City during Duterte’s tenure as mayor.
Other allegations cited
According to the complaint, Duterte also faces the following allegations:
- Graft and malversation involving P8 billion worth of allegedly overpriced laptops during her term as education secretary
- Graft and gross incompetence linked to more than P12 billion in Commission on Audit disallowances at the Department of Education
- Graft in connection with P7 billion in allegedly unliquidated cash advances while she was DepEd secretary
- Graft and gross incompetence over the construction of only 192 classrooms out of a target of more than 6,000
- Possession of alleged ill-gotten wealth and failure to declare more than P2 billion in deposits and other assets in her statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth
- Bribery and corruption for allegedly receiving money from a drug lord during her term as Davao City mayor
- Betrayal of public trust and unfitness to hold public office over two public incidents in which she allegedly threatened President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
The filing follows an earlier impeachment complaint against Duterte that also centered on her use of confidential funds at the OVP and DepEd.
In July 2025, the Supreme Court struck down that impeachment complaint, ruling that it violated the constitutional one-impeachment-per-year rule.
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