House Impeaches Vice President Sara Duterte for the Second Time

The House of Representatives impeached Vice President Sara Duterte for the second time on May 11, 2026, with 257 lawmakers voting in favor and none opposed. Duterte became the first Philippine official to be impeached twice while not in town and having snubbed all hearings of the House committee on justice on the impeachment complaints against her.

On March 25, 2026, the House of Representatives entered the hearing proper stage on the impeachment complaints against Vice President Sara Duterte.

The hearing’s agenda included discussion on impeachment ground rules, action on pending motions and requests for subpoena, determination of the schedule of the next hearings, and determination of resource speakers and witnesses for the April 14 public hearing.

That same day, Duterte keynoted the commencement exercises of the John Paul Benedict School in Meycauayan, Bulacan. The House justice committee conducted its second hearing on the impeachment complaints against Duterte on April 14, 2026.

Ramil Madriaga claimed during the session that he had helped Vice President Sara Duterte dispose of P125 million in confidential funds within a single day in December 2022. Duterte was again absent; family members said she was in Davao City to celebrate the birthday of her mother, Elizabeth Zimmerman.

For its third public hearing on April 22, 2026, the House justice committee examined the Vice President’s alleged unexplained wealth.

Former senator Antonio “Sonny” Trillanes IV linked Vice President Sara Duterte to alleged drug lord Samuel “Sammy” Uy, whom he said gave over P100 million in payouts to Duterte and her family. The Anti-Money Laundering Council confirmed that Vice President Sara Duterte was the beneficiary of check transactions worth P14 million made by Samuel “Sammy” Uy and his associates.

77 billion in large and suspicious transactions flowed through the bank accounts of Vice President Sara Duterte and her husband Mans Carpio from 2006 to 2025.

Those amounts did not match with those declared by Vice President Sara Duterte in her Statements of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth. It was on this day that Malacañang confirmed that the Vice President sought the issuance of a travel authority to go abroad from April 23 to May 15.

On April 23, 2026, Vice President Sara Duterte stated that “plans have changed” regarding her overseas trip due to uncertainty as to whether she would be permitted to depart the country.

After deliberation on pieces of evidence including Duterte’s bank transaction records, the House justice committee held a hearing on April 29, 2026. There, 53 lawmakers unanimously voted in favor of declaring that probable cause exists to impeach Vice President Sara Duterte. That afternoon a panel member told the committee Duterte was at a mall in San Pedro, Laguna.

Vice President Sara Duterte attended the “Extra+Ordinary: The Vice Presidents of the Philippines” pop-up exhibit in Robinsons Galleria South in San Pedro City, according to photos posted on her Facebook page. The House justice committee approved its report that finalizes the impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte on May 4, 2026.

On that date, 55 lawmakers voted in favor of the impeachment report with no objections.

News outlets reported that Vice President Sara Duterte was seen with supporters at The Hague in the Netherlands the same day. Former president Rodrigo Duterte is detained at The Hague in the Netherlands for crimes against humanity charges. On May 11, 2026, Vice President Sara Duterte was in The Hague, according to OVP interview videos.

That morning she posted on Facebook reminiscing about her April visit to the National Museum of the Philippines-Cordillera (Ifugao Museum) in Kiangan town, Ifugao. Vice President Sara Duterte said that she would face trial at the Senate, which will convene as an impeachment court.

On the day of Vice President Sara Duterte's impeachment, the Senate installed Alan Peter Cayetano as Senate president.

Rappler reported that Duterte had been a consistent no-show at the House justice committee hearings throughout the process.

““Plans have changed.””

“— Vice President Sara Duterte, April 23, 2026”