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The Philippine House of Representatives has voted to impeach Vice-President Sara Duterte for a second time, potentially jeopardizing her presidential aspirations for 2028. The vote on Monday sends the impeachment case to the Senate for trial, where conviction could disqualify her from public office. Duterte, 47, is currently leading early polls to succeed her former ally and current rival, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
The case against the vice-president stemmed from her alleged misuse of public funds and public threats against Marcos, his wife and his cousin, the former House speaker.
Duterte was impeached on the same grounds in 2025, but the Supreme Court blocked it on a technicality before the Senate trial could start.
The case was revived this year. Last week, a House committee that looked into the evidence against the vice-president ruled that there were sufficient grounds to impeach her.
Duterte described the case as "nothing more than a scrap of paper" in a formal written response. She refused to appear in the committee hearings which she said had been politically motivated.
After the impeachment vote on Monday, Duterte's defence counsel said in a statement that "the burden now rests on the accusers to substantiate their claims" according to the law.
Monday night's impeachment vote served as a barometer of Marcos' support in the House. 257 of the 290 lawmakers in attendance voted to impeach Duterte, more than the one-thirds required to advance the case to trial.
But unlike in the House, a conviction in the Senate is uncertain, if a trial does start and runs its course.
Duterte announced her intention to run for president in February, much earlier than expected. Marcos is limited by the constitution to a single six-year term.
She holds a 17-point lead over her nearest rival based on a survey in March by Manila pollster WR Numero.
In the 2022 elections, Duterte was the survey frontrunner to succeed her father, but she formed an alliance with Marcos and ran for vice-president instead to consolidate their support bases and fend off a reformist wave. The pair won by a landslide.
But the alliance soon unravelled as they pursued divergent political agendas.
