MANILA – The Philippine House of Representatives impeached Vice President Sara Duterte for allegedly misusing millions in public funds, in a last-minute move before Congress goes on a four-month break ahead of the May 12 midterm polls.
Ms Duterte’s impeachment on Feb 5 signals an even more intensified feud with her erstwhile ally President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, who counts a majority of the over 300 House lawmakers as his allies. Speaker Martin Romualdez is the president’s cousin.
The impeachment vote also comes less than a week before the Feb 11 start of the official campaign period for the May elections, seen as a referendum on the Marcos presidency.
But Ms Duterte remains as vice president for now, as the articles of impeachment will still be transmitted to the Senate, which turns itself into a court for the proceedings.
If 16 out of the 23 sitting senators agree to convict her for impeachable offences, she would be removed as vice-president.
The Straits Times has reached out to Ms Duterte’s office for comment.
A total of 215 legislators voted to impeach Ms Duterte on Feb 5 in connection to alleged misuse of over 612.5 million pesos (S$14.3 million) of funds intended for sensitive and classified purposes.
The funds were disbursed in 2022 and 2023 to the Office of the Vice-President and Department of Education, which she headed until her resignation from the Marcos Cabinet in June 2024.
Three impeachment cases against Ms Duterte were earlier filed by various civil society groups in late 2024, but the House did not act on them for weeks.
Political analysts have said the delay was likely caused by Mr Marcos distancing himself from the impeachment efforts. Some 1.8 million members of the politically influential Iglesia ni Cristo – an influential Christian religious group – also staged a rally on Jan 13 to protest the ouster moves against Ms Duterte.
But administration-allied legislators filed a fourth impeachment case on Feb 5, just a few weeks after local pollster Social Weather Stations showed that 41 per cent of Filipinos are backing Ms Duterte’s impeachment, with 35 per cent opposed and 19 per cent undecided.
Because more than one-third of the total House members endorsed the latest impeachment case, it was immediately moved to the plenary for a final vote.
Normally, an impeachment complaint goes through the House justice committee, which assesses the articles of impeachment lodged against an official.
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