Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte has been impeached by the House of Representatives Wednesday, with many allies of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. voting in favor of the petition.
On Wednesday, the secretary general of the House of Representatives, Reginald Velasco, told a plenary meeting of the lower chamber of the Philippines Congress that 215 lawmakers had signed the petition to impeach Duterte.
The impeachment petition accuses Duterte of violating the constitution, betraying public trust, corruption and other high crimes.
The petition has now been referred up to the country’s Senate, which will serve as an impeachment tribunal for the vice president, who is the daughter of former President Rodrigo Duterte.
It marks the latest episode of a political soap opera which has gripped the Philippines as Marcos Jr—whose father Ferdinand Marcos Sr ruled the country from 1965 until he was ousted in 1986—has clashed with Duterte.
The president and vice president are elected separately in the Philippines and this can result in politicians with very different agendas getting the two jobs.
At the time it appeared to be a marriage of convenience of two political dynasties, but cracks soon began to appear.
The pair differed on their approaches to China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea and on the actions taken by Duterte’s father to tackle drugs, including allegedly ordering extra-judicial killings.
Talked Of Hiring Assassin
Then, in an online news conference on Nov. 23, 2024 she said she had hired an assassin to kill Marcos, his wife, Liza Araneta, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Romualdez, if she were killed.Duterte said: “I have talked to a person. I said, if I get killed, go kill BBM [Marcos Jr], Liza Araneta, and Martin Romualdez. No joke. No joke. I said, do not stop until you kill them, and then he said yes.”
But later Duterte rowed back, saying she was not making death threats but was just expressing concern for her own safety.
The House has also been investigating Duterte over the alleged misuse of 612.5 million pesos ($10.3 million) of intelligence funds received by her offices as vice president, and education secretary.
She resigned as education secretary in June, and last month Marcos Jr removed her from the National Security Council.
Duterte was also accused by some lawmakers of failing to stand up to Chinese aggression in the South China Sea.
In December the vice president failed to appear to answer questions during hearings before the House of Representatives, which were televised, last year.
She protested when her chief of staff, Zuleika Lopez, was temporarily detained for allegedly hampering the inquiry. She has since been released from hospital detention.
