House votes to impeach VP Sara Duterte

Philippine lawmakers on Wednesday voted to send articles of impeachment against Vice President Sara Duterte to the Senate, a day before the current congressional session is set to end.

While specifics of the impeachment were not divulged, the vote follows the filing of a trio of complaints last month accusing Duterte of crimes ranging from the "brazen misuse" of millions of dollars in public funds to plotting President Ferdinand Marcos's assassination.

"Having been filed by more than one-third of the membership of the House of Representatives, or a total of 215 members ... the motion is approved," House Speaker Martin Romualdez told lawmakers.

Duterte's fate now lies in the hands of the Philippines' 24 senators, two-thirds of whom must vote for her impeachment to make it a reality. A trial date has yet to be set.

Wednesday's filing comes days before campaigning officially begins for mid-term elections, widely expected to set the table for the 2028 presidential race.

The relationship between Duterte and President Marcos is at a nadir, their former alliance giving way to a months-long public battle that has seen the trading of wild accusations, including an alleged death threat that remains under investigation.

But Marcos had previously urged Congress not to pursue Duterte's impeachment, calling it a "storm in a teacup" that would distract the legislature from its primary responsibilities.

Marcos's executive secretary Lucas Bersamin, however, said Monday that the Office of the President would "not interfere" with the impeachment complaints.

A public relations official told AFP the Senate was expecting the articles of impeachment to arrive at its security office around 7:00 pm.

House of Representatives member Percival Cendana, who had backed one of the three impeachment complaints, urged his colleagues to take quick action at a rally on Friday that drew thousands calling for Duterte’s impeachment.

Every day of inaction "condones the impunity, the abuse of power and the harassment that Duterte is doing to our country's leaders", he told reporters.

But that rally was dwarfed by one a conservative sect organised that drew hundreds of thousands to the street on January 13 opposing the vice president's impeachment.

Duterte was widely tipped to succeed her father Rodrigo as president in 2022 elections but stepped aside to back Marcos and later ran for vice president on his ticket.

But the alliance has since imploded. In November, she delivered an expletive-laden speech saying she had ordered someone to kill Marcos if she herself was assassinated.

She later denied that her comments constituted a death threat, saying she had only been expressing "consternation" with the administration's failures.

The alleged assassination threat was among the allegations included in the last of the three complaints filed against Duterte, lodged December 19 by seven Manila-based Catholic priests.

"Impeachment is the necessary, ultimate line of defense against corruption at the highest rungs of officialdom," it said. "She cannot be vice president a minute longer."