Impeachment Trial of Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte Begins

The impeachment trial of Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte began on July 6, 2026, in the Senate in Manila. Duterte faces charges including misuse of public funds, amassing unexplained wealth, and threatening the lives of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and the First Lady. The vice president has denied all charges and insists the impeachment is politically motivated.

A conviction requires at least 16 of the Senate's 24 members — a two-thirds majority — to vote in favor. A guilty verdict would bar Duterte from public office and end her bid for the presidency in 2028, a race in which she is currently seen as a leading contender.

Sara Duterte ran as Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s vice-presidential running mate in the 2022 elections, which they won in a landslide. Their once-strong political alliance has since broken down in an increasingly bitter feud. Rodrigo Duterte, Sara's father and a former president, was arrested and transferred to International Criminal Court custody in March 2025 and is awaiting trial in The Hague on murder charges linked to his 'war on drugs'.

The House of Representatives impeached Duterte in May 2026, with an overwhelming majority — dominated by allies of President Marcos — voting to send the case to trial. This followed an earlier impeachment effort that Duterte successfully blocked after petitioning the Supreme Court, which declared it unconstitutional on procedural grounds.

The trial is expected to last months. A comparable impeachment — that of a former chief justice in 2012 — lasted four months. The Senate line-up for the impeachment trial remained fluid, and legal experts assessed conviction as difficult but not impossible.

The South China Morning Post reports that Duterte allegedly misused 612.5 million pesos in confidential funds from her vice-presidential office and while serving as education secretary. The outlet also reports she was accused of amassing billions of pesos in unexplained wealth beyond what she declared in her official asset statement, and of failing to divest business interests as required by law.

The Guardian reports that the charges relating to threats to lives stem from a November 2024 press conference, which Duterte later said was misinterpreted. The Japan Times notes that Duterte is seeking to have the current impeachment case dismissed by the Supreme Court.

Over 6,000 police personnel, including anti-riot squads, were deployed at the Senate complex for the trial, with full alert status declared across the capital. Pro- and anti-Duterte demonstrators were expected to converge at the Senate on the day the trial began.

Supporters of Duterte claim the vice president and her family are victims being targeted by the Marcos administration. Anti-Duterte protesters have called for her conviction as well as broader government transparency, including accountability over a scandal involving ghost flood-protection projects, according to The Guardian.

The Straits Times reports that President Marcos is constitutionally barred from seeking a second presidential term, making the 2028 race particularly consequential for the country's political future.

The Guardian frames Rodrigo Duterte's arrest and pending ICC trial as a major flashpoint between the Duterte and Marcos families, emphasizing the personal and political dimensions of the current impeachment proceedings.

The Straits Times reports a tumultuous sequence of events in the Senate earlier this year. Ronald 'Bato' dela Rosa — who faces ICC murder charges similar to those against Rodrigo Duterte and served as national police chief during much of the drug crackdown in which thousands of suspects were killed — appeared in May 2026 after months absent from public view. He cast the decisive vote to install Alan Peter Cayetano as Senate president, then disappeared with his whereabouts unknown.

Hours after dela Rosa cast his vote, chaos and gunfire erupted at the Philippine Parliament building on May 14, 2026. About a month later, a rival bloc secured enough Senate support to elect Senator Sherwin Gatchalian as Senate president, according to The Straits Times.

The Guardian notes that no politician in the Philippines has ever been convicted through an impeachment process, underscoring the difficulty of securing the two-thirds Senate majority required.

The trial has proven divisive and has heightened political polarization in the Philippines, according to political scientists cited by The Guardian.