Impeached Duterte Won't Rule Out Philippine Presidential Run

Manila: Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte said Friday she had yet to consider stepping down and was still weighing a run for president despite her dramatic impeachment this week by the House of Representatives.

In her first public comments since the impeachment, the 46-year-old, whose relationship with President Ferdinand Marcos has imploded spectacularly in recent months, said the case was now in the hands of her lawyers.

"The legal team is still preparing the defence and (deciding) what we will do moving forward," she said, adding she had yet to read the charges against her and urging supporters to "have faith" in her final victory.

Asked if she had given any thought to resigning, the vice president said: "We're not there yet, ma'am."

Following the House's impeachment vote, the Senate is due to rule on whether to remove her from office.

If convicted in the Senate trial, she would be barred from running for future public office, something that could be avoided should she step down in advance.

Duterte said a potential 2028 run for president, the office once held by her father Rodrigo Duterte, remained firmly on the table.

"We are seriously considering that, but it's difficult to decide without numbers, so we have to know the surveys and numbers, but that's still for next year," she said.

Duterte on Wednesday was impeached for "violation of the constitution, betrayal of public trust, graft and corruption, and other high crimes".

Accusations spelled out in the 44-page document include an alleged plot to assassinate President Ferdinand Marcos, first lady Liza Marcos and House Speaker Martin Romualdez, a Marcos cousin.

On Friday, the vice president once again said comments taken from an expletive-filled speech where she claimed herself to be the subject of a plot had been taken out of context.

"I didn't make an assassination threat to the president. They are the only ones saying that," Duterte said.

She also said she had yet to speak with her father about the situation but had sent a message through his assistant.

"I said everything will be alright; his reply was a song," she said, adding she would welcome his input in her defence.

A day earlier, President Marcos said he had played no role in Duterte's impeachment process.

"There is an implication that somehow I am giving them (Congress) orders. That is not the case at all. We are independent of each other," he told reporters. "You give me too much credit."

Philippine Senate President Francis Escudero has said Duterte's trial will probably not begin until after May's mid-term elections -- or finish before the next congress takes over in July.

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