The House Committee on Justice on Wednesday approved motions to issue subpoenas for the records of investigations into Vice President Sara Duterte’s alleged threats against high-ranking officials, as well as her Statements of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALNs).
During the committee session, Rep. Joel Chua first moved to issue a subpoena duces tecum to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to provide duly certified copies of all records, including documents and photographs gathered in the investigation into the alleged threats by Vice President Sara Duterte against President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Marcos, and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez.
The motion was approved without objection by Committee Chairperson and Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro, who directed the committee secretary to issue the necessary subpoena.
“The committee secretary is directed to issue the necessary subpoena,” Luistro said.
In a separate motion, the committee also approved a request to compel the Office of the Ombudsman to release Vice President Duterte’s SALNs covering her tenure as Davao City mayor and vice mayor from 2007–2013, 2016–2022, and as Vice President from 2022–2025.
The vote on the SALN subpoena was 34 in favor, 1 opposed, and 0 abstentions. Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez cast the lone dissenting vote, arguing that the request could amount to a “fishing expedition” against the Vice President.
“We cannot have two motions being proposed at the same time, it should be two motions, the first motion are the NBI findings, the second is the SALN. We should go one-by-one, because I am going to agree to vote yes to the first one, the second one it is a fishing expedition, there are no ultimate facts on the SALN of the Vice President,” he explained.
“I object, this is now a clear fishing expedition against the vice president,” he added.
Duterte faces multiple allegations, including the alleged misuse of public funds and threats she made during a late-night livestream in 2024 to kill.
