A Philippine congressional committee has advanced impeachment proceedings against Vice President Sara Duterte after ruling that two complaints against her are sufficient in substance.
The House of Representatives justice committee, chaired by Batangas representative Gerville Luistro, voted 54–1 on Wednesday, 4th March, following two days of deliberations. The panel assessed whether the allegations, if proven, would constitute impeachable offences under the Constitution.
The decision requires Vice President Duterte to respond within 10 days under House rules. The committee will then submit a report to the full House. If at least one-third of lawmakers approve, the case will move to the Senate for trial, where a two thirds vote is required for conviction. A conviction would remove her from office and bar her from holding future public positions.
The two complaints are among four filed in early 2026. One was dismissed for violating the one year bar rule on repeated impeachment filings, following a Supreme Court ruling in July 2025 that invalidated a previous attempt on procedural grounds. Another was withdrawn to expedite proceedings.
The surviving complaints accuse Vice President Duterte of misusing confidential funds during her tenure as vice president and education secretary, as well as bribery, unexplained wealth, graft and corruption, betrayal of public trust, and culpable violation of the Constitution. Vice President Duterte is also accused of publicly threatening to have President Ferdinand Marcos Jr killed, along with his wife and a cousin who was then House speaker.
Duterte has denied the allegations. Vice President Duterte’s legal team, including lawyer Michael Poa, said they would review the committee’s actions and address the case through constitutional processes rather than in the media.
Representative Leila de Lima, who endorsed one of the complaints, welcomed the committee’s vote. “This is a very good development that the process of accountability is now moving,” de Lima told Reuters.
House senior deputy speaker Ferdinand Hernandez stressed that the committee’s vote was procedural. “Our vote on the sufficiency in substance of the impeachment complaint is not a determination of guilt or innocence on the part of the vice president,” Hernandez said. “We are not conducting a trial today, nor are we rendering a judgment on the allegations contained in the complaint.”
The proceedings come amid a deepening rift between Vice President Duterte and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The two political families allied to win the 2022 elections but later became rivals.
In February 2026, Vice President Duterte announced plans to run for president in 2028, when President Marcos must step down after his single six-year term. The vice president has criticised his administration over alleged corruption and what she describes as a lack of independent foreign policy, particularly in relation to strengthened military ties with the US.
President Marcos survived an impeachment attempt in February 2026 that was dismissed by his allies in Congress.
Vice President Duterte is the daughter of Former President Rodrigo Duterte, who has been detained at the International Criminal Court (ICC) since March 2025 to face charges of crimes against humanity linked to his anti drug campaign.
The impeachment process in the Philippines allows any citisen to file a complaint against high officials if it is endorsed by a House member. The current complaints mirror those filed in 2025, which the Supreme Court struck down on procedural grounds rather than on the merits.
The committee’s ruling marks a significant step in escalating political tensions in Manila, with potential implications for the 2028 presidential race.
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