Filipino activist priests file plunder complaint against VP Duterte

MANILA, Philippines – Two Filipino activist priests joined a group of complainants in filing a plunder complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte, who is accused of misusing around $10.4 million in confidential funds.

Friday’s plunder complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman is the biggest case filed against Duterte after her impeachment case was blocked by the Supreme Court on July 25.

The complainants want the Ombudsman to investigate Duterte for plunder and other crimes, and to endorse its findings to the House of Representatives for the filing of a new impeachment case in 2026. They also want the agency to immediately suspend the Vice President and other respondents while the case is being investigated.

Duterte, 47, is facing corruption charges in the context of her fallout with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and her possible presidential run in 2028, a prospect that has alarmed leaders of the Catholic Church.

The eight complainants against Duterte included Father Flavie Villanueva, a missionary priest of the Society of the Divine Word (SVD), and Father Robert Reyes, a priest of the Diocese of Cubao. The six others included peace and women’s rights advocates as well as youth leaders.

Villanueva, a self-confessed former drug addict, is a human rights advocate who staunchly criticized former president Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs. Reyes is a media-savvy activist priest who has condemned corruption in the government and the Church for decades.

Like hundreds of Filipino bishops and priests, both Villanueva and Reyes belong to the Clergy for Good Governance, a group that has called for reforms in the Philippine government.

The Catholic Church is one of the leading voices against corruption in the Philippines, a former Spanish colony, as both Marcos and Duterte are accused of stealing public funds. The Church, in fact, led nationwide rallies called the Trillion Peso March on September 21 and November 30, a show of force in a country where faith often mixes with politics.

During the filing of the plunder complaint, it was the SVD priest who represented the complainants in an interview with reporters.

Villanueva said they are filing the complaint “to show that accountability is happening,” as he emphasized that “confidential funds are public funds.” Addressing the Vice President, Villanueva said, “If Sara Duterte is not hiding anything, she should face this.”

The priest also refuted a comment that their camp is “angry” at Duterte. “We are angry at those who manipulate others, we are angry at lies, we are angry at those who distort the truth. There is no politics here,” he said.

“As a priest and as a member of the Church, the truth has always been enshrined in the Gospel, and that is why I am here,” Villanueva said.

In their 58-page complaint, the complainants stated that the case involves Duterte and former and current employees of the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education, which Duterte previously headed.

It was filed “because of the illegal, dubious, and anomalous use of the confidential funds entrusted to her and her office in 2022 and 2023 as Vice President in the amount of ₱500 million ($8.46 million), and Secretary of the Department of Education in the amount of ₱112.5 million ($1.9 million), the details of which were exposed, disclosed, and became evident during the congressional budget deliberations in 2024.”

The Vice President, however, dismissed the plunder complaint as “another fishing expedition” that aims “to weaponize any accusation” against her.

“I urge our countrymen to be critical and not just give in to the slander. This is not about finding the truth — it is about covering up the looting of the public treasury for which no one has been held accountable,” said Duterte, referring to alleged corruption by the Marcos government.

Duterte made another swipe at the President, alluding to his government’s alleged inability to curb inflation. “Let us continue to be strong in the face of the economic collapse and the relentless rise in the prices of goods. Let us continue to pray for peace,” she said.