Sara Duterte: Philippines feud escalates as lawmakers vote to impeach vice-president

The Philippine Congress has voted to impeach Vice President Sara Duterte following allegations of corruption. Duterte is accused of misusing millions of dollars in public funds and threatening to assassinate President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos. The move underscores growing political tensions in the country.

Duterte has denied the charges, claiming she is the victim of political persecution. This unexpected move is widely seen as an escalation of a long-simmering feud between Duterte and Marcos, a discord that has kept the country on edge for months. Both are scions of Philippine political dynasties: she is the daughter of former President Rodrigo Duterte, and he is the son of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos Sr.

Of the 306 members of the House of Representatives, 215 voted in favor of impeachment, well above the one-third threshold needed for the bill to pass. The bill will now go to the 24-member Senate, which will constitute an impeachment court. If convicted, Duterte faces removal from office and would become the first vice president in Philippine history to be impeached. She is expected to remain in office until the Senate renders its verdict. A trial date has not yet been set.

Duterte has been widely considered a potential successor to Marcos, who is ineligible to run in the 2028 presidential election due to constitutional limits of a single six-year term for presidents. The impeachment would effectively block her from the presidency, as she would be permanently barred from holding public office. This move comes ahead of the midterm elections in May, which will be seen as a referendum on Marcos' term halfway through, as well as a barometer of public support for Duterte.

Duterte has yet to comment on the impeachment vote. But her brother, Paolo Duterte, who represents their hometown of Davao in Congress, said the government was "treading on dangerous ground," calling it a "blatant act of political persecution." Marcos has also not commented on Duterte's impeachment. Last November, he said it would be a "waste of time" for lawmakers to impeach her, as they had more important work to do.

Since the end of Ferdinand Marcos Sr.'s dictatorship and the restoration of democracy in 1986, only one sitting president has been impeached—Joseph Estrada in 2000 on corruption charges. But his trial did not reach a verdict after a popular uprising forced him from office in January 2001. Only one impeachment trial has resulted in a conviction, that of former Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona, who was found guilty of corruption charges in 2012. The impeachment trials of Estrada and Corona were both highly politicized and divisive events that lasted for months.

Duterte and Marcos presented a united front when running in the 2022 elections, calling themselves the "UniTeam." But cracks began to emerge even before they took office, when Duterte requested to handle defense matters in Marcos' cabinet but was ultimately appointed as Education Secretary. Their alliance further unraveled soon after they took office, as they differed on key issues such as foreign policy while pursuing their own respective political agendas.

Their differing views on the Philippines' relationship with the United States and China have become more pronounced, as encounters between Philippine and Chinese vessels in disputed waters have become more frequent. Marcos has pivoted the Philippines back towards the United States, reversing the pro-China stance of Duterte's father. He has also pledged a less violent approach to combating illegal drug syndicates, scaling back the elder Duterte's "war on drugs," which, according to government statistics, resulted in the deaths of more than 6,000 suspects.

The Lower House—where Marcos' allies hold sway—then began scrutinizing Duterte's budget requests, particularly her confidential funds, which are not subject to state audits. Last July, she resigned from her cabinet post. Months later, in a late-night livestreamed press conference, Duterte said that she "talked to someone" who would "go and kill" Marcos if she were assassinated. She later said she was not plotting to assassinate the president, and Marcos dismissed the threat as a "tempest in a teapot."