Vice President Sara Duterte became the first Philippine government official ever impeached twice after the House of Representatives voted 255–26 on Monday to endorse four articles of impeachment against her, with the case now headed to a Senate suddenly reshaped by a pro-Duterte leadership coup.
Twenty-six members of the lower chamber opposed the indictment while nine abstained. The total far exceeded the constitutional minimum — a one-third threshold, or 106 of the House’s 318 members — and also surpassed the 215 signatures that backed the first impeachment complaint in 2025.
The four articles of impeachment cover culpable violation of the Constitution, graft and corruption, and betrayal of public trust in connection with the alleged misuse of confidential funds; unexplained wealth stemming from a discrepancy between her bank records and her Statements of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth; bribery and graft related to payments to government officials; and alleged death threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos, and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez.
Among the most serious allegations cited during proceedings was a reference to private bank transactions flagged by the anti-money laundering authority amounting to more than $110 million. “The scale of these transactions cannot be reasonably explained by lawful income, declared assets, or the businesses and professional activities attributed to the couple,” complainant and House member Terry Ridon said.
Duterte and her legal team did not participate in any of the committee hearings. She offered general denials of the allegations through official statements and press briefings held outside Congress. Days before the vote, she told supporters that the outcome of the impeachment “is written by God.”
The House vote was immediately overshadowed by a dramatic shift in the Senate. Senator Alan Peter Cayetano was elected Senate president on Monday, ousting Senator Tito Sotto III after 13 senators backed the leadership change. Senator Imee Marcos nominated Cayetano for the post, while Senator Bato dela Rosa — who had been largely absent from the Senate since November 2025 — returned specifically to participate in the vote.
In his first remarks as Senate leader, Cayetano denied the shakeup was driven by the impeachment. “The impeachment is enshrined in the Constitution,” he said, while warning against treating it as a shortcut to remove political rivals. Political scientist Cleve Arguelles offered a sharply different assessment, saying the maneuver was arranged “to guarantee paralysis, delay, or acquittal” of the impeachment trial.
Conviction in the Senate requires a two-thirds majority — 16 of 24 senators. Duterte needs only nine senators to avoid removal from office. Senators Imee Marcos, Robin Padilla, Bong Go, Rodante Marcoleta, and Ronald dela Rosa are widely regarded as reliable votes in her favor. The Cayetano and Villar siblings have also tended to be aligned with or sympathetic to the Duterte camp.
Ahead of the plenary vote, the PDP-Laban party issued a warning to lawmakers, threatening to bar those who voted to impeach Duterte from running under its banner and to field rival candidates against them in their districts.
The second impeachment comes after the Supreme Court nullified the first in July 2025, ruling it unconstitutional due to the one-year bar rule. This time, the House took a longer, more deliberate route — partly to avoid another Supreme Court intervention — which enabled lawmakers to subpoena documents that had not previously been part of the public record. Duterte, who has formally declared her candidacy for the 2028 presidential race, now faces a Senate trial whose course will be set by a chamber led by an ally of her family.
