Sara impeached by House
MANILA, Philippines — Sara Duterte became the first Vice President to be impeached, with 215 of the 306-member House of Representatives voting yesterday for her impeachment, primarily for betrayal of public trust.
But the Senate, which will convene as an impeachment court to decide whether Duterte should be ousted, adjourned session before 7 p.m. yesterday without tackling the complaint that was transmitted by the House in the afternoon.
The Senate will resume session in June. It is unclear if senators will spend the period for their election campaign sitting as an impeachment court.
President Marcos’ son, Deputy Speaker Sandro Marcos, led the list of signatories to the impeachment complaint, which was a consolidation of three complaints filed last December.
The fast-track mode of impeachment required at least 102 congressmen or one-third of the House members to sign the verified complaint.
The House session was presided over by Speaker Martin Romualdez, with whom Duterte had a falling out. Manifestations on the floor were made by Majority Leader Manuel Jose Dalipe, who asked House secretary-general Reginald Velasco how many had signed the complaint.
“This is about upholding the 1987 Constitution and ensuring that no public official, regardless of their position, is above the law,” Romualdez, a first cousin of President Marcos, stated after the historic vote.
In a prepared statement, the House leadership stated that Duterte – daughter of former president Rodrigo Duterte – was impeached based on a “series of grave allegations, including conspiracy to assassinate Marcos, large-scale corruption, abuse of public funds and involvement in extrajudicial killings.”
In November 2024, Vice President Duterte threatened to have Marcos, his wife First Lady Liza Araneta and Romualdez assassinated if she was killed.
Duterte made the statement in response to comments urging her to stay safe while inside the premises of the House of Representatives, where her chief of staff Zuleika Lopez was detained for failing to answer questions during Congress’ probe on alleged misuse of OVP funds.
The 11-man prosecuting team, led by Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro, voted to approve the seven