After lawmakers, many of whom are supporters of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., signed a petition to remove her from office, the lower house of Congress impeached Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte.
The impeachment vote on Wednesday comes after a number of complaints alleging Duterte of crimes, including plotting Marcos’ assassination and the misuse of public funds. Duterte , has consistently denied wrongdoing and has described moves against her as a political vendetta.
“Having been filed by more than one-third of the membership of the House of Representatives, or a total of 215]out of 306] members, … the motion is approved”, House Speaker Martin Romualdez told lawmakers.
24 senators now have the power to decide her fate, and two-thirds of them must support her impeachment before she can be removed from office. She will continue to serve as vice president while the impeachment proceedings continue, despite not having a trial date.
After former President Joseph Estrada, an ombudsman, and a former Supreme Court chief justice, Duterte is the fourth official in the Philippines to be impeached.
In the Philippines, top officials may be impeached for culpable violation of the constitution, treason, bribery, corruption, other high crimes or betrayal of public trust.
The midterm elections, which are widely anticipated to set the stage for the 2028 presidential race, will have a House vote days before the election.
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.
On Monday, however, Marcos’s executive secretary, Lucas Bersamin, said the Office of the President would “not interfere” with the impeachment complaints.
Former allies turned adversaries
For years, Duterte was primed to succeed her controversial father, Rodrigo, as president, but she eventually stepped aside to back Marcos, running as vice president on his ticket. Together, they won a landslide victory in 2022.
But the alliance has since imploded, giving way to a months-long public spat that has seen the trading of wild accusations.
In November, Duterte delivered an expletive-laden speech saying she had ordered someone to kill Marcos if she herself was assassinated.
Due to rumors that she may run for president in 2028, she has accused Marcos and his wife of corruption, weak leadership, and attempts to silence her.
Meanwhile, Duterte has been accused of misusing 612.5 million pesos ($10.3m) of public funds, which led to her resignation in June from Marcos’s cabinet, in which she oversaw the Department of Education.
Source: Aljazeera
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