Ombudsman to submit Sara’s SALN to House panel

MANILA, Philippines — The Office of the Ombudsman will comply with the subpoena of the House committee on justice to provide Vice President Sara Duterte’s statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN).

“It’s part of the constitutional process that we have. It’s part of the legal process. We just abide by the rules and the law when it comes to impeachment proceedings. We will follow the law,” Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla said yesterday in a press briefing.

The House committee on justice issued a subpoena seeking Duterte’s SALN from 2007 as it began the impeachment trial against the Vice President.

The request includes Duterte’s SALNs from the time she served as mayor and vice mayor of Davao City. She served as Davao City vice mayor from 2007 to 2010, and as mayor from 2010 to 2013 and from 2016 to 2022, before being elected Vice President in 2022.

For his part, Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano said the Office of the Ombudsman already gave public access to the SALNs of public officers in its custody – including the President, Vice President, heads of constitutional commissions and local officials.

“Even a simple request would do – so much more if it is backed by a subpoena. We will comply,” he said.

For Duterte’s SALNs as a local official, the ombudsman will endorse the subpoena to its Mindanao office.

Clavano also said the complaints filed against Duterte, including those filed by civil society groups and by former senator Antonio Trillanes IV and referrals from the House, have been consolidated.

He said the complaints, including allegations raised by Ramil Madriaga, are already subject to a fact-finding investigation. Madriaga has accused Duterte of obtaining campaign funds from illegal offshore gaming and drug trafficking operations.

“We are looking at the allegations and we are verifying everything that is written in those complaints,” Clavano said.

The Office of the Ombudsman, he said, will be circumspect in engaging him to prevent conflict with congressional proceedings.

Sequence of probable cause hearings set

The House committee on justice streamlined on Wednesday its impeachment proceedings against Vice President Duterte by adopting a sequence of issues for its April 14 hearing.

The panel, chaired by Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro, acted on a proposal by Deputy Speaker and Zambales Rep. Jay Khonghun to organize the presentation of evidence and jointly tackle the two remaining complaints – the Saballa and Cabrera complaints.

Khonghun proposed grouping common allegations to guide the panel’s determination of probable cause, citing overlapping evidence and witnesses.

“For the purpose of our next hearing on April 14, the Committee should consider adopting the sequence of the grounds… and receive the evidence for both impeachment complaints jointly, considering that they may have common evidence,” Khonghun said.

Khonghun outlined a structured sequence beginning with allegations tied to the misuse of confidential funds, followed by issues involving the Department of Education, and then bribery and corruption-related charges.

The sequence was clarified during interpellation by House senior minority leader and ML party-list Rep. Leila de Lima, who endorsed the Saballa complaint and confirmed that the order aligns with the grounds cited in the complaint.

Luistro confirmed the sequence, with Khonghun affirming it would guide the panel’s determination of probable cause.

The move is expected to expedite proceedings by consolidating discussions and avoiding duplication as hearings shift to the probable cause phase.

Let’s go to the Senate’

The House justice committee’s decision to issue multiple subpoenas in connection with the ongoing impeachment complaints against the Vice President goes beyond the panel’s jurisdiction and power, according to Duterte’s legal team.

“If they think there is probable cause, then let’s go to the Senate so we have a chance not only to present our evidence, but also to cross-examine the evidence and the witnesses that they will be presenting,” lawyer Michael Poa said over dzBB.

“If you suddenly alleged that someone did something wrong, but after you alleged, that’s where you will look for papers, documents, evidence. That’s not how it should be in our legal system. Instead of having evidence first before you decide to file a complaint, the complaint comes first and then let’s see if we can find evidence. That’s why we are saying that this goes well beyond the determination of probable cause,” Poa added.

The House committee on justice voted to order the issuance of subpoenas to the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Securities and Exchange Commission to obtain tax records and corporate documents linked to Duterte, her husband Manases Carpio, and their business interests.

At the same time, Poa said that there is no requirement for Duterte to appear before the House justice committee hearings.

Duterte and her legal team did not appear before the hearing of the House panel on Wednesday.

Poa said that Duterte is ready to answer all allegations, but maintained that it should be during the Senate impeachment trial. “It should be done in the Senate because we can cross-examine there, we can direct our own witnesses, so that the fight is fair,” he added.

No fishing expedition

The House committee on justice rejected on Wednesday claims of Vice President Duterte’s camp that the impeachment proceedings are a “fishing expedition,” saying that the case is anchored on existing records, including her own SALN.

“They are entitled to their own opinion. But the facts are very clear. Our Vice President needs to explain something on the discrepancy in her SALN in 2007 and 2024,” Bicol Saro Rep. Terry Ridon said in a press conference.

“It will be a fishing expedition if we have no document to start with. The problem is there is. It is in the SALN of the Vice President itself,” he added.

Ridon pointed to a “wealth gap” between Duterte’s reported cumulative salary of around P30 million to P50 million since 2007 and her declared net worth of about P88 million in 2024.

Meanwhile, Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro, chairperson of the House committee on justice, said the panel’s actions were grounded on its earlier rulings finding the complaints sufficient to proceed.

For his part, House deputy speaker and La Union 1st district Rep. Paolo Ortega gave assurance that the impeachment hearings against Vice President Duterte will continue in Congress, alongside government efforts to help cushion the adverse impact of record-high oil prices.

“Impeachment does not paralyze the House. It activates our constitutional duty while we continue delivering results,”

He said the House is operating on “two tracks at full speed” – legislation and accountability – as he rejected claims that the proceedings distract from urgent concerns such as inflation, fuel prices and economic stability.

“We are doing both – decisively and simultaneously,” Ortega said. — Jose Rodel Clapano, Bella Cariaso, Delon Porcalla