Members of the Philippine clergy filed an impeachment complaint against Sara Duterte, the third to hit the country’s vice-president in just over a week.
The daughter of former president Rodrigo Duterte was impeached by the House of Representatives last year only to see the country’s Supreme Court throw the case out over procedural issues.
Under the Philippine constitution, an impeachment triggers a Senate trial. A guilty verdict would see Duterte barred from politics and sidelined from a potential 2028 presidential run.
Yesterday’s filing – brought by some of those behind the former complaint – accuses Duterte of bilking taxpayers of at least US$10mil (RM39.3mil) while serving as vice-president and as secretary of education.
“This is not political, we are not politicians,” Reverend Joselito Sarabia, a Catholic friar and one of the complainants, told reporters outside the House complex.
“We believe there is a moral concern. That’s why we are here again,” he said, adding that it was time for Duterte to “answer all accusations”.
The complaint also cites an alleged death threat against President Ferdinand Marcos made during a late-night press briefing that Duterte has since said was misinterpreted.
Last week, Philippine civil society leaders and members of a left-wing coalition filed separate similar impeachment complaints against Duterte.
They were filed just days before a House justice committee dismissed a pair of impeachment complaints against Marcos. — AFP
