Philippine VP Sara Duterte Impeached For Second Time In Two Years

The Philippine House of Representatives (HoR) has impeached Vice President Sara Duterte with an overwhelming affirmative vote of 255; 26 against and nine abstentions.

This is the second time in two successive years and under two different Congresses that the controversial political figure had been impeached. Last year, Duterte had also been impeached with 215 votes, more than two-thirds of the Lower House.

The HoR is expected to transmit the resolution and its attached Articles of Impeachment to the Philippine Senate for a full trial on the basis of unexplained wealth, confidential funds misuse, threats against the President, and bribery.

Last year's full impeachment trial by the Senate had been abandoned after the Supreme Court issued stay orders on technicalities.

Members of the HoR Committee on Justice (CoJ) who submitted their report to the HoR plenary said all the charges against Duterte are founded on a“broad and solid body of evidence, testimonies, and documents.”

“At this point, the evidence has clearly established probable cause for betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of the Constitution,” CoJ member Rep. Terry Ridon earlier said.

Ridon explained that on the charge of unexplained wealth alone, the figures are“staggering.” The CoJ found approximately P6.77 billion (Dh400.3 million) in total transactions linked to the accounts of the Vice President and her spouse, including around P4.43 billion in inflows, P1.5 billion in outflows, and approximately P2.88 billion in net inflows that remained in the banks.

Yet in her 2024 Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth, the vice president declared a net worth of only P88.5 million, the investigations revealed.

“The scale of these transactions cannot be reasonably explained by lawful income, declared assets, or the businesses and professional activities attributed to the couple,” Ridon said.

After eight hearings since February that Duterte never attended, the CoJ also found strong bases to the vice president accountable for the misuse of confidential funds and grave threats.

The Commission on Audit ordered the return of approximately P448 million as personal liability from disallowed and unsupported confidential fund expenditures.

Video recordings played during the hearing also showed Duterte publicly making threats against the President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, then HoR Speaker.

“Taken together, these acts constitute a clear showing of betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of the Constitution,” Ridon said.

There is no immediate reply from Vice President Duterte on her second impeachment. She is out of the Philippines on a 22-day trip in The Netherlands, South Korea, Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom.

Earlier, a political party affiliated with the Duterte dynasty, the Partido ng Demokratikong Pilipino (PDP), threatened to blacklist legislators who will vote for impeachment, following rumors that a block-voting church group would do likewise.

The Makabayan Coalition of progressive lawmakers – who voted for impeachment – said PDP is playing dirty politics with its threats against members of Congress.“With the Vice President unable to debunk the evidence presented during the impeachment hearings, her allies have now resorted to petty threats,” it said.

With the overwhelming vote to impeach Duterte anew, Makabayan asked Filipinos to stand firmly behind the impeachment proceedings against Duterte.

“This is a necessary step to exact accountability for corruption in government and to reclaim public funds that rightfully belong to the nation. The impeachment is not simply politicking in a time of crisis. It is a constitutional process with clear legal basis and profound public interest stakes,” the lawmakers said.

At the Philippine Senate today, pro-Duterte legislators successfully ousted Senator Vicente Sotto III as President who is perceived to be in favor of conducting a full impeachment trial without delay.

Sotto was replaced by Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, an ally of the Dutertes.

MENAFN11052026000049011007ID1111095845