On Friday, Vice President Sara Duterte sent a written reply to a government office called the Ombudsman. This office checks if leaders like her broke any rules or laws. Some people think VP Sara and her team used government money the wrong way, and she is now defending herself.
What She’s Being Accused Of
VP Sara is being blamed for many serious things:
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Spending money in the wrong way
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Faking documents
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Lying under oath
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Bribery (giving money to get favors)
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Working with others in a dishonest way
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Stealing lots of money (called plunder)
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Breaking the Constitution
These accusations don’t just involve VP Sara alone. They also include some people she worked with when she was the Secretary of Education.
Who Said She Did These Things?
The House of Representatives, which is a big group of lawmakers, looked into how VP Sara used her office’s money. They found some things that didn’t look right. For example:
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Some documents had wrong dates
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Some names were hard to read
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Some were signed by people who have no birth records
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Some receipts didn’t even say who signed them
All of this is connected to how ₱612.5 million pesos in secret funds were spent by VP Sara’s offices — both as Vice President and as Education Secretary.
What VP Sara Did
On June 27, 2025, at 1:10 PM, her lawyers Paul Lim and Michael Poa went to the Ombudsman office and gave them a reply. VP Sara told them clearly:
“I didn’t misuse any public money.”
But There’s a Problem
Even though the House of Representatives gave their findings to the Ombudsman, they say they didn’t officially file a complaint. They just recommended that charges be filed.
Still, because of all this, VP Sara is now facing an impeachment trial in the Senate. This is like a very serious court case where they will decide if she should lose her job as Vice President.
What the House Lawyer Said
Antonio Audie Bucoy, the spokesperson for the House team in charge of this case, said the Ombudsman should wait before making any moves. He said the Senate impeachment court should decide first.
He explained that under a law called the Ombudsman Act (RA 6770):
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The Ombudsman can’t investigate someone like the VP unless it’s to help with an impeachment.
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The Senate is the only one allowed to judge if an impeachable official like VP Sara should be punished.
So, Bucoy said:
“Let the impeachment trial finish first. That’s the correct process.”
Who’s in Charge of the Investigation?
The Ombudsman right now is Samuel Martires. He used to be a Supreme Court Justice, and he will only be in office until July 2025.
