MANILA: Philippines’ Vice President Sara Duterte (pic) is facing a second impeachment as soon as Monday (May 11), a possible victory for her ally-turned-rival President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. that will likely deepen the country’s political and economic turmoil.
One-third of the 318-member House of Representatives is needed to impeach, which would then kick the process up to the Senate, where two-thirds of its 24 members will be needed to convict her.
A conviction in the Senate, which is far from certain, would ban her from politics for life and remove her from office.
House Deputy Speaker Janette Garin said the House will vote on Duterte’s impeachment Monday, without providing further details.
There are at least 215 votes to impeach the vice president, Congressman Terry Ridon said in a post on X.
"At this point, the evidence has clearly established probable cause for betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of the Constitution,” Ridon said.
Duterte is facing four charges, including misusing public funds and threatening to assassinate Marcos.
She’s denied any wrongdoing, claiming the charges are politically motivated.
The vice president, daughter of former President Rodrigo Duterte, leads opinion polls as the most popular candidate to succeed Marcos when his six-year term expires in 2028.
She was impeached for the first time in February 2025, but the Supreme Court threw out the complaint on procedural grounds.
Her impeachment heightens the political stakes in a nation already rattled by a massive government corruption crisis and an oil-price shock stemming from the Middle East conflict.
With inflation surging, the South-East Asian country last week reported its slowest economic expansion outside of the pandemic since 2009.
Marcos and Duterte teamed up to win the 2022 election but political differences caused their alliance to collapse.
Their rivalry has since dominated Philippine politics. In February, an impeachment effort against Marcos failed after the justice committee found the underlying complaint was "insufficient in substance.”
The Philippines has a history of impeaching government officials, most notably former President Joseph Estrada and the late Chief Justice Renato Corona. - Bloomberg
