SARA DUTERTE IS NOT YET IMPEACHED. HERE IS WHERE THE CASE ACTUALLY STANDS TODAY.

A lot of people on my feed today are reading the headlines and thinking the impeachment is done. That the House voted. That the case is now with the Senate. That a trial starts soon.

None of that has happened yet.

What happened today is one specific procedural step. A real one. But not the final one. To make sense of where the case actually stands, walk through the ladder one rung at a time.

WHAT THE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON JUSTICE DID TODAY

On Monday, May 4, 2026, the House Committee on Justice met and unanimously adopted three documents: the committee report finding probable cause to impeach Vice President Sara Duterte, the corresponding resolution, and the Articles of Impeachment themselves. The vote was 55-0.

The committee will now transmit those documents to the plenary of the House of Representatives.

That is what today was. A committee-level adoption of the paperwork that goes to the full House.

WHY PEOPLE ARE CONFUSING THIS WITH THE PLENARY

The confusion is understandable, because there have been two big committee votes in the last week, and the language around both can sound like the case has already cleared the House.

The first was on April 29. That was the probable cause vote. The committee voted 53-0 to find that the evidence against the Vice President was sufficient to proceed. That vote established the substantive basis. It did not transmit anything anywhere.

The second was today, May 4. The committee took the substantive finding from April 29 and packaged it into formal documents. Report, resolution, Articles of Impeachment. Then it voted 55-0 to adopt that package. That vote made the paperwork official and ready for the plenary.

Two different votes. Two different functions. Both at the committee level. Neither one was the plenary.

THE LADDER, ALL THE WAY UP

Here is the full procedural sequence. I have marked which rungs are done and which are still ahead.

Step 1. Committee finds probable cause. Done. April 29. 53-0.

Step 2. Committee formally adopts the report, resolution, and Articles of Impeachment. Done. May 4. 55-0.

Step 3. Committee transmits the documents to the House plenary. Happening today as a procedural transfer.

Step 4. Plenary debate. Pending. The 318-member House will deliberate on the Articles. Both sides will speak. Manifestations and motions can be filed.

Step 5. Plenary vote. Pending. Under Article XI, Section 3(2) of the 1987 Constitution, at least one-third of all members of the House must affirm the resolution and the Articles for the case to advance. One-third of 318 is approximately 106 votes. Below that number, the case dies in the House.

Step 6. If the plenary affirms, the Articles of Impeachment are transmitted to the Senate. Pending.

Step 7. The Senate convenes as an impeachment court. Pending and conditional.

Step 8. Trial. The senators sit as judges. Both sides present evidence. Witnesses are called. Pending.

Step 9. Senate verdict. To convict, two-thirds of all members of the Senate must vote against the Vice President on at least one of the impeachable offenses. That is 16 of 24 sitting senators. Conviction means removal from office and permanent disqualification from holding any public position.

We are between Step 2 and Step 4. The Articles are out of committee. The plenary has not yet debated. The plenary has not yet voted.

Sara Duterte is not yet impeached. The House has not yet impeached her. The case is not yet with the Senate. The Senate has not yet convened as a court.

WHAT "IMPEACHED" ACTUALLY MEANS

This is a vocabulary problem more than a procedural one.

In Philippine constitutional law, a public official is "impeached" only when the House of Representatives, sitting as a chamber, votes to send the Articles of Impeachment to the Senate. The committee finding probable cause is not an impeachment. The committee adopting the report is not an impeachment. The Articles being printed and stamped is not an impeachment.

The plenary vote is the impeachment.

Until that vote happens — and reaches the 106-vote threshold — Sara Duterte remains a public official with charges recommended against her, not a public official impeached.

After the plenary vote, even if it succeeds, she still is not removed. Removal requires the Senate trial and the conviction by 16 senators. That is a separate process with its own timeline.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR THIS WEEK

The plenary calendar is the next thing to watch. The committee report has to be calendared for plenary consideration. Once it is, the chamber sets aside time for debate. How much time is up to House leadership and the rules.

When the plenary actually votes, watch the count. If the affirmation passes 106, the Articles cross to the Senate. If it falls short, the case dies in the House and the Vice President remains untouched by this round.

Senate President Vicente "Tito" Sotto III has said the Senate will receive the Articles once they are transmitted. That is a conditional statement, not a date. The Senate cannot convene as an impeachment court until the House sends the package over.

WHY THE LANGUAGE GETS BLURRY IN HEADLINES

News outlets compress procedural distinctions for headline space. "House panel approves Sara Duterte impeachment articles" is technically accurate but easily misread as "the House impeached Sara Duterte." The "House panel" is the committee, not the chamber. The "approves" is an internal adoption, not a plenary vote. Both words do work the headline cannot fit.

When you see those headlines, the question to ask is: was it the committee or the plenary? If the answer is committee, the case is still inside the House. If the answer is plenary, the case is moving toward the Senate.

Today was the committee. The plenary is still ahead.

WHAT LUISTRO SAID TODAY

The committee chairperson, Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro, framed the adoption in these terms: "We followed the Constitution. We did not rush things. If the Vice President is guilty, let the truth convict her. If she is innocent, let the process clear her."

The "we did not rush things" line is doing real work. The committee held four hearings — March 25, April 14, April 22, and April 29 — before voting on probable cause. The Vice President did not appear at any of them. Her counsel said her response would come at a Senate trial. The committee took her absence and her statement at face value, ran the hearings on the evidence presented, and now closes its part of the process.

The next stage is not Luistro's call to make. It belongs to the chamber.

THE SHORT ANSWER

If a friend asks you today: did the House impeach Sara Duterte?

The accurate answer is no.

What the House Committee on Justice did was unanimously adopt the report and the Articles of Impeachment. Those documents are now headed to the plenary. The plenary has to debate and then vote. If 106 lawmakers say yes, the case crosses to the Senate.

That vote has not happened yet.

Until it does, the impeachment is in the corridor between the committee and the chamber, waiting for the chamber to take it up.