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.

Rep. Leila de Lima endorsed one of the two impeachment complaints. "These are matters that go into the integrity and accountability and fitness of a public official occupying the second highest position in our government," de Lima told fellow lawmakers.

Shortly before the House vote, Senate President Vicente Sotto III was ousted by 13 of 24 senators. Sen. Roland dela Rosa, a supporter of former President Rodrigo Duterte, appeared in the Senate after months of absence.

It remained unclear how the leadership change would affect any trial. Duterte is the daughter of former President Rodrigo Duterte, who was arrested in March 2025 and put on trial in the Netherlands on charges of crimes against humanity related to his anti-drug campaign. Sara Duterte and President Marcos were running mates in the 2022 election but have since had a bitter falling out.

She has accused Marcos, his wife and Romualdez of corruption and attempting to muzzle her. Duterte announced her intention to run for president in February. She is leading early surveys for the 2028 presidential election with a 17-point lead over her nearest rival based on a survey in March by Manila pollster WR Numero.

If convicted in a Senate trial she would be disqualified from holding public office. After the vote Duterte's defence counsel said in a statement that the burden now rests on the accusers to substantiate their claims according to the law. Her husband, Manases Carpio, has filed criminal complaints against Luistro and other legislators after government records of the couple’s bank transactions were made public in a recent House hearing, saying that violated the country’s bank secrecy law.