Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte Faces Impeachment Trial in Senate

The Philippine Senate on Monday formally opened the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, a process that could lead to her removal from office and end her potential bid for the presidency. The Senate will deliberate on several charges against Duterte, including the misuse of public funds, a threat to assassinate President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., and possession of unexplained wealth. The trial follows the House of Representatives’ approval in May to impeach Duterte for a second time, after a previous attempt failed last year due to procedural errors. Duterte is considered one of the leading potential candidates for the 2028 Philippine presidential election. As the president is limited to a single six-year term, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is ineligible to run again. Duterte, the daughter of former President Rodrigo Duterte, has strongly denied the allegations and described the impeachment process as ‘politically motivated’. She did not attend the Senate session on Monday, although she was represented by her legal counsel. Under the Philippine constitution, a two-thirds majority of the 24-member Senate, or 16 votes, is required to convict and remove an impeached official. However, the detention and absence of a pro-Duterte senator has sparked speculation about whether the threshold could be lowered. A senator allied with Duterte is currently evading authorities after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant against him on charges of conspiracy to commit crimes against humanity. The ICC warrant relates to Rodrigo Duterte’s anti-narcotics operations, which reportedly resulted in thousands of deaths between 2011 and 2019. Marcos and Sara Duterte ran as running mates in the 2022 presidential election, but their relationship soured after their victory. Tensions worsened after the Marcos administration decided in March 2025 to surrender Rodrigo Duterte to the ICC in The Hague over the killings that occurred during his anti-drug campaign. Furthermore, during an online press conference in November 2024, Sara Duterte stated that she had instructed an assassin to kill Marcos, his wife, and his cousin, House Speaker Martin Romualdez, should she herself be killed.