Philippine House Votes to Impeach Vice President Sara Duterte

The Philippine House of Representatives voted to impeach Vice President Sara Duterte on Monday, sending two complaints against her to the Senate for trial. The House approved the measures by votes of 255-26 with nine abstentions according to one tally, 257-25 with nine abstentions according to another and 257-25-9 according to a third, all well above the one-third threshold required.

The House is dominated by allies of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

The impeachment complaints accuse Duterte of unexplained wealth, misuse of state funds and threats to have the president assassinated. Rep. Gerville Luistro, who heads the House Justice Committee, said the complaints included huge bank transactions over the years that Duterte has not declared as required by law, misuse of confidential funds of the Office of the Vice President and as education secretary, and threats made by Duterte during an online news conference in 2024 to have Marcos, his wife and Martin Romualdez killed by an assassin if she herself was assassinated.

Duterte later said she wasn’t threatening Marcos but was expressing concern for her own safety. She has generally denied any wrongdoing without answering the criminal allegations against her in detail. A House justice committee last month found probable cause for the impeachment.

Last week a House committee ruled that there was sufficient grounds to impeach her. The case against Duterte was revived this year after she was impeached on the same grounds in 2025. The Supreme Court blocked that earlier effort on a constitutional technicality before a Senate trial could begin.

This is the second time Duterte has been impeached by the House; she survived the first attempt and was not tried. The petition to impeach her was backed by 255 of 318 lawmakers. Of the 290 lawmakers in attendance on Monday, 257 voted to impeach her.