Philippine House Votes To Impeach VP Sara Duterte

Philippine lawmakers on Wednesday voted to impeach Vice President Sara Duterte, who has fallen out spectacularly with the country's leader, paving the way for a Senate trial that could see her removed from office.

While specifics of the impeachment have yet to be divulged, the vote follows the filing of a trio of complaints in December accusing Duterte of crimes ranging from the "brazen misuse" of millions of dollars in public funds to plotting President Ferdinand Marcos's assassination.

"Having been filed by more than one-third of the membership of the House of Representatives, or a total of 215 members ... the motion is approved," House Speaker Martin Romualdez told lawmakers.

At a small rally outside the House of Representatives, student protester Darlene Cerico told AFP the impeachment vote represented a major victory, if an incomplete one.

"I feel so happy because this proves the power of collective action. We know there are still many things to accomplish ... to fully hold Sara Duterte accountable," Cerico said.

The fate of the former president's daughter now lies in the hands of the Philippines' 24 senators, two-thirds of whom must vote for her impeachment to remove her from office and disqualify her from future public positions. A trial date has yet to be set.

Wednesday's vote comes days before campaigning officially begins for mid-term elections, widely expected to set the table for the 2028 presidential race.

Whether 16 senators cast their vote for Duterte's impeachment could come down to President Marcos, Dennis Coronacion, chairman of the political science department at the University of Santo Tomas, told AFP.

"If (Marcos) is committed to this one, to the impeachment process ... I think getting the required number of Senate votes is possible," he said, adding Wednesday's vote had come as something of a surprise.

But should the administration stay hands-off, the chances of Duterte being impeached are closer to 50-50, Coronacion said, pointing to the sitting senators' need for votes from Duterte stronghold Mindanao in the coming election.

Jean Franco, assistant professor of political science at the University of the Philippines, said the coming trial represented a major opportunity for incumbent senators, who would benefit from hours of free television exposure.

"This is a political opportunity for politicians. It can make or break politicians this impeachment process," she said, adding those not already in office would be on the outside looking in.

"The game has been changed by this impeachment. All eyes are going to be on the process, so you're just going to be reacting to what's going to happen."

The relationship between Duterte and President Marcos is at a nadir, their former alliance giving way to a months-long public battle that has seen the trading of wild accusations, including an alleged death threat that remains under investigation.

But Marcos had previously urged Congress not to pursue Duterte's impeachment, calling it a "storm in a teacup" that would distract the legislature from its primary responsibilities.

Marcos's executive secretary Lucas Bersamin, however, said Monday that the Office of the President would "not interfere" with the impeachment complaints.

A public relations official told AFP the Senate was expecting the articles of impeachment to arrive at its security office around 7:00 pm.

Duterte was widely tipped to succeed her father Rodrigo as president in 2022 elections but stepped aside to back Marcos and later ran for vice president on his ticket.

But the alliance has since imploded. In November, she delivered an expletive-laden speech saying she had ordered someone to kill Marcos if she herself was assassinated.

She later denied that her comments constituted a death threat, saying she had only been expressing "consternation" with the administration's failures.

The alleged assassination threat was among the allegations included in the last of the three complaints filed against Duterte.

With her impeachment, Duterte becomes one of only four high-ranking officials to share that fate since the Philippines returned to democracy after the 20-year rule of Ferdinand Marcos Sr came to an end in 1986.

Along with a Supreme Court justice and a high-profile prosecutor, then-president Joseph Estrada was impeached in November 2000 on charges of embezzlement and taking kickbacks from illegal gambling operations.

When the Senate tribunal refused to accept key evidence, Filipinos took to the streets in a bloodless revolt, leading Estrada to step down when the military withdrew its support.