No impeachment talks vs. VP Sara in the House, says Erwin Tulfo

House Deputy Majority Leader and ACT-CIS party-list representative Erwin Tulfo on Thursday denied that members of the House of Representatives are talking about the possibility of an impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte.

Tulfo made the comments in response to House Deputy Minority Leader and ACT Teachers party-list lawmaker France Castro saying in a television interview late Wednesday night that certain leaders of political parties in the House are talking about impeachment of the Vice President.

Castro was quoted as saying in a One News interview saying “Wala [sa usapan ang impeachment] sa far as Makabayan [bloc] is concerned, pero pinag-uusapusapan rito ng mga congressman kung merong magfafile, mga tsismisan, na baka may mag file, inaantay lang iyong complaint. Napag uusapan ng ilang miyembro iyong tungkol rito sa impeachment...sa Vice President. Iba’t ibang leaders ng political parties [ang nag-uusap.”

“I reached out to leaders, including Congressman Zaldy (Co) and the Speaker, to address rumors circulating in Congress. However, there is no substance to these discussions; no such thing has been deliberated among party leaders or the House leadership,” Tulfo told reporters, referring to Speaker Martin Romualdez of Leyte and House Committee on Appropriations chairperson and Ako-Bicol party-list representative Zaldy Co.

In a statement also on Thursday, Castro also clarified such supposed talks on impeachment “are mere discussions of some congressmen and not a serious move against Vice-President Sara Duterte."

Tulfo also said Thursday that the Vice President did not commit an impeachable offense to begin with.

He added that an impeachment complaint, which emanates in the House, will only be pursued if it has merit.

“Perhaps, in the future, with additional facts, details may emerge, altering the situation. However, currently, there's no substance, and it requires further review. As per the leadership, there's no discussion or plan for impeachment when we return on Monday,” he said.

“The goal is to unite for the people and progress, not against Sara Duterte or her family. The Speaker's instructions before leaving for the US were to continue working and passing laws needed by the Executive Department,” he added.

Romualdez is in San Francisco, United States as part of President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.’s delegation in the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation.

In September, lawyer and veteran lawmaker Edcel Lagman of Albay said that the transfer of P125 million from the Office of the President for Vice President Sara Duterte's confidential funds in 2022 violated guidelines but was not an impeachable offense.

"Let other people think about that, but to my mind, it might not be an extreme case of culpable violation of the Constitution. I don’t think it's culpable [violation of the Constitution] exactly. Maybe there was only a mistake in the interpretation of the pertinent regulations. Culpable means extreme guilt,” Lagman said.

Culpable violation of the Constitution is one of the grounds for impeachment under the 1987 Constitution. 

Lagman and Castro also earlier said such transfer of P125 million worth of funds violated Article 6, Section 25.5 of the Constitution, which states that "no law shall be passed authorizing any transfer of appropriations; however, the President, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and the heads of constitutional commissions may, by law, be authorized to augment any item in the general appropriations law for their respective offices from savings in other items of their respective appropriations."

The 2022 general appropriations or national budget law did not provide for any item for confidential funds under the Office of the Vice President.

Earlier this week, the Speaker said he hopes that the House's relationship with the Vice President will improve even if the chamber has stripped civilian agencies of confidential fund, including the Office of the Vice President and the Education department headed by Duterte. —LDF, GMA Integrated News