Philippine Senate tosses impeachment complaint v V-P Duterte back to Lower House

MANILA - Philippine senators voted on June 10 to return an impeachment complaint against Vice-President Sara Duterte to the House of Representatives for clarification, just hours after convening a trial.

A majority of the senators approved a motion to return the case until the Lower House can certify that the impeachment complaint it referred in February did not violate the Constitution and the next session of Congress is “willing and ready” to pursue the impeachment complaint.

The senators were sworn in as jurors on June 10 in the trial against Ms Duterte, who faces a lifetime political ban if convicted of high crimes and betraying the public trust.

The high-profile trial could be a pivotal moment in Philippine politics by not only making or breaking Ms Duterte, but also carrying big implications for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his agenda for the remaining three years of his presidency and beyond.

A likely contender to be the next president, Ms Duterte, 47,

was impeached in February

by the Lower House of Congress.

She denies all the accusations, from budget anomalies to amassing unusual wealth and threatening the lives of Mr Marcos, his wife, and House Speaker Martin Romualdez. 

“We stand ready to confront the charges and expose the baselessness of the accusations,” her office said in a statement. 

A two-thirds majority is required to convict Ms Duterte, which would kill off her hopes of running for the presidency in 2028. 

Ms Duterte is expected to be summoned to appear at the trial and will have 10 days to respond to the charges. 

The first order of the trial agenda was debating a motion to dismiss the impeachment, presented by staunch Duterte ally Ronald dela Rosa, who argued the process had been flawed from the start. 

“Should we allow impeachment complaints which are constitutionally infirm to be heard and tried by this body?” he told the Senate.   

Weaponised process

The trial of the popular daughter of firebrand former President Rodrigo Duterte follows an acrimonious falling-out with former ally Marcos, who ran on a joint ticket that won the 2022 election in a landslide. 

Mr Marcos is limited to a single term in office and is expected to try to retain future influence by grooming a successor capable of fending off Ms Duterte in the next election if she is acquitted.

The president has distanced himself from the impeachment process, even though it was launched by his legislative allies.

The trial comes after a stronger-than-expected showing for Ms Duterte’s allies in the May midterm elections.

That demonstrated her enduring influence, despite the battle with Mr Marcos and the arrest and handover to the International Criminal Court of her father in March over thousands of killings in a “war on drugs” he waged as president from 2016 to 2022.

Ms Sara Duterte is the fifth top official in the Philippines to be impeached, only one of whom, Renato Corona, a former chief justice of the Supreme Court, was convicted.

The trial of former President Joseph Estrada was aborted in 2001 after some prosecutors walked out, while the resignations of two officials, an election commission chairman and an ombudsman, followed their impeachments.

Ms Duterte had asked the Supreme Court to nullify the impeachment complaint against her as being politically motivated. The court ordered Congress to respond. 

“The impeachment process must never be weaponised to harass, silence, or eliminate political opponents,” Ms Duterte’s office said in the statement on June 10.

“It is a constitutional mechanism, not a political tool.” REUTERS