MANILA, Philippines 鈥 Vice President Sara Duterte was slapped with a second impeachment complaint filed by over 70 representatives of progressive groups who trooped to the House of Representatives on Wednesday, December 4.
The progressive groups, led by Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan), submitted their impeachment complaint before House Secretary General Reginald Velasco at 3:38聽p.m.
According to advance copies of the impeachment complaint sent by Bayan to reporters, the ground for impeachment used聽is a betrayal of public trust due to a myriad of issues that stemmed from her offices鈥 use of confidential funds (CFs).
The Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd), which Duterte previously headed, have been the subject of a House investigation due to questions on how their CFs were utilized.
Some of the revelations were the acknowledgment receipts (ARs) for the CFs signed by a certain 鈥淢ary Grace Piattos鈥 whom Antipolo 2nd District Rep. Romeo Acop said has a first name similar to a coffee shop and a last name that is a famous potato chip brand.
The ARs signed off by Piattos were part of the liquidation reports discussed during the hearing on the P23.8 million in CFs covered by 158 receipts.
READ: P1-M reward for information on Mary Grace Piattos 鈥 House lawmakers
On Tuesday, the Philippine Statistics Authority confirmed that the name Mary Grace Piattos does not appear on their live birth, marriage, and death registry.
READ: 鈥楳ary Grace Piattos鈥 does聽not exist, PSA confirms
The first impeachment complaint was filed on December 2 and was聽endorsed by Akbayan party-list Rep. Percival Cende帽a.
READ: First impeachment complaint vs VP Sara filed at House
According to former Senator Leila de Lima, who accompanied the complainants, among the articles of impeachment cited in the first complaint were Duterte鈥檚 alleged CF misuse, threats to ranking government officials, and her supposed involvement in extrajudicial killings when she was Davao City mayor.
READ: De Lima: Fund misuse, threats among grounds for impeaching VP Duterte