MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte on Friday criticized a lawmaker’s request for the House Committee on Justice to take custody of Ramil Madriaga, a detained individual claiming to be her former bagman, calling the move “disturbing” and an insult to a minor victim.
Akbayan Party List Rep. Chel Diokno, in a March 5 letter to House panel Chairperson Gerville Luistro, described Madriaga as a “material witness” in Duterte’s ongoing impeachment proceedings and urged the committee to ensure his safety and availability to testify.
Madriaga is currently jailed in Taguig City for alleged kidnapping. Duterte has denied his claims and recently filed a perjury complaint against him.
“Even more disturbing is the treatment now being extended to Madriaga, an alleged kidnapper who fabricated an entire story,” Duterte said in a statement. “The request that he be given special treatment in the House of Representatives is a grave insult to the minor victim who was traumatized by his criminal acts.”
In his letter, Diokno also requested the immediate production of key documents to help the committee determine whether there are sufficient grounds for impeachment.
He sought subpoenas for Duterte’s Statements of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALNs) from 2007 to 2013, 2016 to 2022, and 2022 to 2025, National Bureau of Investigation records concerning alleged threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., and an Anti-Money Laundering Council certification regarding any suspicious transactions involving Duterte.
Responding to the proposed subpoenas, Duterte maintained that the evidence is insufficient to justify an impeachment case.
She called the efforts a “third ‘fishing expedition’ by the House of Representatives’” and described the impeachment as “a political attack designed to protect certain individuals and advance personal and foreign interests.”
Duterte, who announced a 2028 presidential bid in February, faced an impeachment case last year that was dismissed by the Supreme Court on procedural grounds.
Under the Philippine Constitution, a House-approved impeachment triggers a Senate trial, where a conviction would bar her from holding elected office for life.
The latest complaints were recently ruled “sufficient in substance” by a 54-1 vote, giving her 10 days to respond before a probable-cause hearing is held.