Philippines vice president Sara Duterte faces historic impeachment trial

The Philippine Senate opened Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial on Monday, placing the vice president at the center of a constitutional fight that could reshape both the Duterte political brand and the 2028 presidential contest. The chamber had already been sitting as an impeachment court since May 18, and it issued a pre-trial order on June 29 after five working sessions in June.

The House impeached Duterte again on May 11 in a 257-25 vote with nine abstentions, then transmitted the articles of impeachment to the Senate the same day. The charges include misuse of confidential funds, unexplained wealth, bribery, graft and corruption, and threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and former Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez. A conviction in the Senate could bar Duterte from future office.

This was not Duterte’s first clash with impeachment. Three complaints were filed against her in December 2024, and a fourth complaint was later endorsed by more than one-third of House members and sent to the Senate in February 2025. The Senate convened as an impeachment court in June 2025, but the Supreme Court ruled on July 25, 2025 that the first case was unconstitutional because it violated the Constitution’s one-year bar on multiple impeachment proceedings and due-process protections. Fresh complaints were then filed again in February 2026.

The Senate’s latest pre-trial conference ran through five working sessions from June 18 to June 25, and the June 29 order laid out the trial’s blueprint, including stipulations of fact, witness lists, marked evidence and hearing dates. Duterte was directed to appear in person or through counsel at the July 6 session, scheduled for 2 p.m., while senator-judges had already taken their oaths on May 18.