MANILA, Philippines– Civic and church groups filed plunder and graft complaints against Vice President Sara Duterte on Friday before the Office of the Ombudsman in Quezon City, alleging she misused P612.5 million in confidential funds.
The complainants, who identified themselves as representatives of various civic and church-based organizations, submitted a joint complaint-affidavit to the Ombudsman’s central office. They claimed Duterte, while serving as vice president and concurrently as education secretary, unlawfully requested, received, and used confidential funds allocated to the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education.
The complainants said the total amount involved exceeded the P50 million threshold for plunder under Philippine law and violated the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and the Plunder Law.
The complainants requested the Ombudsman conduct a full investigation into the source, release, utilization, and liquidation of the funds. They asked the office to subpoena budget releases, disbursement vouchers, receipts, and liquidation reports, and to place respondents under preventive suspension if evidence suggests their continued stay in office could influence witnesses or tamper with records.
The complaints named Duterte as the principal respondent and listed several John Does and Jane Does as potential co-conspirators.
The Ombudsman received the complaints and will evaluate them under its standard docketing and case-screening procedures. The office has not yet announced the formation of a fact-finding panel or the timetable for a preliminary investigation.
The Office of the Vice President and Duterte’s legal and communications teams have not issued detailed public responses or submitted formal comments to the Ombudsman at the time of filing.
