The House of Representatives in the Philippines voted overwhelmingly to impeach vice president Sara Duterte on Monday over alleged unexplained wealth and threats against the president, as the rift between the camps of the country’s top two officials escalated.
The House, which is dominated by President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr’s allies, voted 257-25 with nine abstentions.
The two impeachment complaints against Ms Duterte, which will now be elevated to the Senate for a trial, mark an initial setback to her plan to seek the presidency in 2028.
Shortly before the impeachment vote in the House, Senate president Vicente Sotto III, who had vowed to immediately put the vice president to trial, was ousted by 13 of 24 senators, including supporters of the vice president and her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte.
It is not immediately clear how the vice president’s impending impeachment trial would be affected by the Senate leadership change, but Mr Sotto told reporters that he and his allies would insist that the proceedings against the vice president should be immediately taken up once submitted.
A tense standoff ensued when senator Roland dela Rosa, an ally of former president Duterte — who is facing trial before the International Criminal Court in the Netherlands — suddenly appeared in the Senate after months of absence.
National Bureau of Investigation officers tried to run after Mr dela Rosa but failed to reach him as he dashed into the Senate’s plenary hall and sought the protection of fellow senators.
Rodrigo Duterte was arrested in March last year and detained in the Netherlands on charges of crimes against humanity.
The charges are in connection with deadly anti-drugs crackdowns he ordered while he was in office.
Mr Dela Rosa once served as the national police chief under Duterte, and was the first to enforce the bloody campaign against illegal drugs that left thousands of mostly petty suspects dead.
Philippine police officials have summoned Mr dela Rosa to appear before them for an investigation into his role in the Duterte-era killings.
In The Hague, the ICC on Monday unsealed an arrest warrant for Mr dela Rosa for the crime against humanity of murder of “no less than 32 persons” allegedly committed between July 2016 and the end of April 2018, when he headed the national police.
It remains unclear how the warrant would be enforced as Mr dela Rosa remained in the Senate’s protective custody.
The vice president has generally denied any wrongdoing without answering the criminal allegations against her in detail.
Her lawyers said on Monday they were ready to defend her in a trial.
“While questions of constitutional significance remain pending before the Supreme Court, we are fully prepared to defend the vice president before the Senate,” the lawyers said in a statement, adding that “it is incumbent upon the prosecution to discharge the burden of proof”.
She has repeatedly accused Mr Marcos, his wife and his cousin, former house speaker Martin Romualdez, of corruption, weak leadership and attempting to muzzle her because of speculation she may seek the presidency in 2028 when Mr Marcos’ six-year term ends.
Last year, she was also impeached by the House but survived by successfully petitioning the Supreme Court to declare the impeachment bid unconstitutional on a technicality.
The vice president remains popular, based on independent surveys.
Sara Duterte and President Marcos were running mates in a whirlwind alliance in the 2022 election but have since had a bitter falling out.
She has accused Mr Marcos of allowing the ICC to carry out what she described as the “kidnapping” of her father in violation of Philippine laws.
