The Senate was already laying groundwork for a possible impeachment trial when word emerged that Vice President Sara Duterte had filed a travel authority request with the Office of the President to visit five countries in Europe and Asia — among them the Netherlands, where her father sits in detention at a prison facility in The Hague.
Malacañang confirmed the request covers the Netherlands, Republic of Korea, Belgium, Germany, and the United Kingdom between April 23 and May 15. The vice president is on approved leave of absence, and the trip would carry no government expense. Travel clearances for previous visits to the Netherlands have been routinely granted by the Office of the President since Rodrigo Duterte’s transfer there in March 2025.
The request landed on the same day the ICC Appeals Chamber dismissed, by majority, the defence’s challenge to the court’s authority over the drug war killings case. In a ruling read in open court on April 22 — with the former president having waived his right to be present — the chamber confirmed that the ICC holds jurisdiction over alleged crimes committed on Philippine territory from November 1, 2011 to March 16, 2019, the full duration of Manila’s membership under the Rome Statute.
The court’s reasoning was direct: permitting a State Party to escape prosecutorial reach simply by filing a withdrawal notice after its nationals come under scrutiny would contradict the treaty’s foundational purpose of closing impunity gaps for the gravest international offenses. The Philippines submitted its withdrawal from the Rome Statute in 2019 under the elder Duterte’s administration.
Rodrigo Duterte faces three counts of murder as an indirect co-perpetrator tied to the anti-drug campaign he directed as Davao City mayor and as president. Official Philippine government records logged over 6,000 deaths during the campaign; human rights groups have placed the actual toll substantially higher. A separate confirmation of charges decision — which would determine whether a full trial proceeds — is expected around April 28, according to The Manila Times.
Back in Manila, the House Committee on Justice was holding its third hearing on the impeachment complaints against Sara Duterte, with legislators trained on the state of her financial disclosures. The Ombudsman told the panel that her Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth from 2019 to 2024 contained no recorded cash on hand or bank deposits across five consecutive years. Manila 3rd District Rep. Joel Chua was among members who questioned the adequacy of those filings.
The committee had called former senator Antonio Trillanes IV, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Eli Remolona Jr. — who also chairs the Anti-Money Laundering Council — Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla, and senior officials from the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Sara Duterte has not attended any of the hearings, with her camp disputing the legitimacy of the proceedings. Malacañang declined to soften the optics. Palace press officer Claire Castro said the vice president’s absence was a matter of personal choice. “Choice niya po iyan. Kung ayaw niya pong ipakita sa taumbayan ang katotohanan at iyong isyu about accountability and transparency, iyan po ay hindi niya ipinakikita sa taumbayan ngayon, eh choice niya po iyan,” Castro said at a briefing.
Committee chair Rep. Gerville Luistro maintained that the panel remains the appropriate venue for Sara Duterte to respond to the allegations against her, according to The Manila Times.
The House has 60 session days from February 23 to act on the complaints. The justice committee is targeting April 29 to conclude public hearings, with a committee report potentially transmitted to the House plenary when Congress reconvenes on May 4. A one-third vote in the plenary would elevate the case to the Senate. Senate President Vicente Sotto III said the chamber could convene as an impeachment court as early as that same date, should the House transmit the articles by then. Only a Senate conviction carries the consequence of removal from office and permanent disqualification from public service.
Sara Duterte formally declared her candidacy for the 2028 presidential race on February 18, ahead of the current impeachment proceedings.
