- Source: Efforts to impeach Sara Duterte
In December 2024, two impeachment complaints were formally filed against Sara Duterte, the Vice President of the Philippines, and the deputy of President Bongbong Marcos.
Background
= Relationship between Marcos and Duterte
=Bongbong Marcos and Sara Duterte was elected as president and vice president respectively in the 2022 Philippine election as part of the UniTeam alliance.
Duterte was appointed as Marcos' first Secretary of Education after they both took office in mid-2022. Although she preferred to be Secretary of Defense Over the next two years, Duterte's relationship with Marcos' allies detoriated, particularly with House Speaker Martin Romualdez and Marcos' wife and first lady Liza Araneta. She resigned in May 2023 from Lakas–CMD where she served as chairperson. Lakas is part of the ruling coalition.
In January 2024, President Marcos insisted that the UniTeam is still "vibrant", referring to his working relationship with his deputy.
Duterte tendered resignation from her position as education secretary in June 2024. When asked about her friendship with Marcos in September 2024, she said they were never friends and merely running mates in the 2022 elections. Marcos responded expressing he was "deceived" about their supposed friendship. In October 2024, she detailed her fallout with Marcos, who she says "does not know how to be president".
On November 29, 2024, Bongbong Marcos confirmed that he had directed the House of Representatives to refrain from filing an impeachment motion against Sara Duterte. This is despite his rift with Vice President Sara Duterte which he described as a "a storm in a teacup" and maintained that any potential effort to impeach his deputy would be a waste of time that it "does not make a difference to even one single Filipino life.".
= Prior impeachment plans
=The Makabayan bloc, has considered filing an impeachment case against Duterte back in August 2023 over alleged misuse of confidential funds of the Office of the Vice President for 2022. The plan was later judged a "premature".
In August 2024, Sara Duterte said she expects an impeachment case to be filed against her following her fallout with the president and information she heard from allies within the lower house.
In September 2024, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan has described impeachment of Duterte as necessary over her use of confidential funds in 2022 and 2023. In the same month, the House of Representatives have denied any plot to file an impeachment complaint.
Complaints
= 24 articles complaint
=In December 2, 2024, the first formal impeachment case was lodged against Vice President Sara Duterte. The complaint listed 24 articles which was categorized in four points – "graft and corruption", "bribery", "betrayal of public trust" and "other high crimes". Aside from corruption, other cited reasons include her alleged role in the extra-judicial killings of the drug suspects and failure to make a stance against China's aggressive sovereignty claims in the South China Sea dispute.
= Bayan complaint
=The second impeachment complaint against Duterte was filed on December 4, 2024 by 70 activists led by the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan. They cited a single reason which is betrayal of public trust over the illegal use and mishandling of confidential funds. Duterte is accused of committing "gross abuse of discretionary powers" over the ₱612.5 million confidential funds of the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education. On December 9, 2024, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) assessed that of the 677 total number of names given in the acknowledgement receipts (ARs) for the Department of Education's confidential funds while Duterte was its head, 405 had no birth record with the agency. By mid-December, the PSA further assessed that of the 1,992 names given in the ARs for the Office of the Vice President's (OVP) confidential funds, 1,322 lacked any birth record with the agency, while only 670 had a "most likely match".
= Potential third complaint
=On December 5, 2024, House Secretary General Reginald Velasco disclosed that a third complaint by select members of the House of Representatives is being prepared.
Analysis
Antonio Soriano of the Citizens' Watch for Good Governance questioned the "shotgun" approach of the impeachment complaint. Soriano says that intent regarding Duterte's threat against the president has to be proven. He also believes that Duterte's action under the capacity of mayor of Davao City can't be used for grounds for her impeachment and details of her alleged misused of confidential funds can't be publicly disclosed.
The impeachment procedure is seen gaining traction in the House of Representatives, but the same is not certain in the Senate, with 16 out of 24 votes needed to convict Duterte.
Ronald Llamas of the Galahad Consulting Agency, and political advisor of former president Benigno Aquino III believes the delaying the impeachment proceedings to after the 2025 mid-terms election would render Marcos a lame-duck president. Llamas said that Marcos' earlier pronouncement to discourage impeachment proceedings can either be taken "at face value" or as a "tactical move" He previously said in August 2024 that formal impeachment proceedings were likely to begin before the 2025 election.
Soriano even speculated that the motions might even benefit a potential electoral bid of Duterte in the upcoming 2028 elections.
Response
The Office of the President on December 3, distances itself from the issue and reiterates its stance of not encouraging any impeachment motions stating its the right of private citizens to make such moves. Senate President Chiz Escudero had advised his colleagues not to make public pronouncements about the impeachment complaints.
The Iglesia ni Cristo on December 4 has announced that it plans to hold a rally to oppose the impeachment efforts concurring with President Marcos' stance in November 2024 that efforts to remove Duterte from office is unconstructive.
If Duterte is impeached, Marcos could select among the qualified members of the House of Representatives and Senate to fill the vacancy.
See also
Impeachment of Joseph Estrada
Impeachment of Renato Corona