An impeachment motion against Vice President Sara Duterte, a leading contender for the next Philippine presidential election, has passed the House. It is the second time after last year.
According to foreign media reports on the 11th (local time), the Philippine House of Representatives passed the impeachment motion against the vice president with 255 in favor, 26 against and 6 abstentions.
Under the Philippine Constitution, if at least one-third of all members of the House support an impeachment motion, it is sent to the Senate for a final impeachment trial. If at least two-thirds of the 24 senators vote in favor, the vice president will be removed and will be barred from holding public office for life.
The impeachment motion raised allegations that the vice president misused funds and took bribes, and that there was a plot to assassinate the presidential couple Marcos. She is accused of misappropriating 612.5 million Philippine pesos (about 15.1 billion won) in government funds, and in Nov. 2024, instructing her security detail to assassinate President Marcos and his spouse if she were killed.
The vice president is the daughter of former President Rodrigo Duterte and won the 2022 presidential election as the running mate of President Marcos. However, as policy and power conflicts deepened afterward, the two sides effectively split, and in Mar. last year the conflict escalated when President Marcos allowed the International Criminal Court to arrest former President Duterte.
After the impeachment motion passed, the vice president's legal team issued a statement saying it was fully prepared to defend the vice president. It added that the burden of proving the allegations now lies with the accusers.
Back in Feb. last year, an impeachment motion against the vice president containing almost identical allegations also passed the House. However, due to procedural issues, the Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional, and it was effectively dismissed when the Senate put it on hold in Aug. the same year.