Philippine lawmakers have formally launched impeachment hearings against Vice President Sara Duterte, escalating a bitter political conflict fueled by allegations of massive corruption and threats to assassinate President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
The proceedings, which began Wednesday, mark a dramatic breakdown between the country’s top two leaders. Duterte, 47, faces a series of grave charges, including the alleged misappropriation of 612.5 million pesos (about $10.19 million) in confidential government funds during her first 18 months in office.
According to complaints submitted to the House of Representatives, the accusations include financial fraud, corruption, and violent threats. Duterte is accused of falsifying official documents to conceal misuse of public money, bribing education officials, amassing unexplained wealth, and making threats against the lives of President Marcos and his family.
Duterte, who remains in the Philippines, skipped the opening hearing, claiming she was not legally required to appear. Instead, she used social media to denounce the process as a politically motivated “fishing expedition” by the House.
“The invitation to attend the hearing of the Committee on Justice is being used to create a media narrative that there will be a ‘mini-trial,’ based on the alleged non-response and non-attendance,” she wrote in a Facebook statement.
In a show of defiance, she demanded lawmakers drop the inquiry entirely, asserting that “the Committee has no choice but to dismiss the complaints due to the clear lack of evidence.”
The once-strong alliance between Duterte and Marcos has collapsed into open hostility. The feud intensified in November 2024 when Duterte publicly claimed she had arranged for an assassin to kill the president if she were assassinated first. She also reportedly threatened to dig up the remains of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos and throw them into the sea.
This week’s hearings represent the second congressional attempt to remove Duterte. Lawmakers previously voted to impeach her in February 2025 on similar grounds, but the Supreme Court blocked that effort six months later, citing a constitutional prohibition on multiple impeachment proceedings within a single year.
The crisis unfolds against the backdrop of Duterte’s family history. Her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, was arrested last year and remains in ICC custody in The Hague, facing charges of crimes against humanity linked to his violent anti-drug campaign.
If convicted by the Senate, Sara Duterte would lose the vice presidency and be permanently barred from holding public office. The House Committee on Justice has up to 60 session days to complete its investigation and decide whether to forward the articles of impeachment to the Senate for trial.