Lawmakers impeached Philippines Vice President Sara Duterte yesterday after finding sufficient grounds to send her to trial in a Church-supported corruption case. Source: The Tablet.
In the 318-member House of Representatives, 257 lawmakers voted to impeach Ms Duterte while 25 others opposed the move. Nine abstained.
This makes Ms Duterte the first Filipino official to be impeached twice, in a case that includes four Catholic priests, three religious sisters and one Christian pastor among the complainants.
Ms Duterte’s impeachment in the House now moves to the 24-member Senate, the upper chamber of the bicameral legislature. The Senate will then convene as an impeachment court, which will subject Ms Duterte to trial and vote to convict or acquit her.
The votes of two-thirds of the Senate, or at least 16 senators, are needed to convict Ms Duterte.
A conviction will unseat the Vice President and ban her from occupying any other government post. She is the current front-runner in the 2028 presidential election and a conviction will put her presidential bid in jeopardy.
Ms Duterte, the 47-year-old daughter of former president Rodrigo Duterte, is accused of misusing about $A14 million in discretionary funds and plotting to kill President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and at least two of his relatives. She has denied both charges.
Many priests and religious praised the impeachment, but political commentators agreed that the real battleground is the Senate. A leadership change at the Senate yesterday has been widely seen as an indicator of senators’ loyalties ahead of Ms Duterte’s trial.
A majority of senators voted to oust Senate President Vicente Sotto III and replace him with Ms Duterte’s long-time ally Alan Peter Cayetano, which could block or delay the impeachment trial.
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Philippines Vice President impeached in Church-backed case (By Paterno R. Esmaquel II, The Tablet)
