By Karen Lema and Mikhail Flores
MANILA, May 11 (Reuters) - Philippine lawmakers overwhelmingly voted to impeach Vice President Sara Duterte on Monday, setting the stage for a trial in the Senate that could kill off her hopes for a presidential run in 2028.
Duterte was accused in an impeachment complaint of misusing public funds, accumulating unexplained wealth and threatening the lives of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, his wife and the former House speaker, which she denies.
The complaint by activists,
religious groups and lawyers was backed on Monday by 255 lawmakers, easily passing the required threshold of one-third of house seats, with 26 voting against and nine abstentions.
With her ally-turned-enemy Marcos limited by the constitution to a single term in office, Duterte, 47, has been the clear favourite to succeed him in 2028, but the impeachment could derail her bid.
The Senate must now convene a trial with its members as jurors and if convicted, she faces removal from office and a ban from politics.
"We are fully prepared to defend the Vice President before the Senate sitting as an impeachment court, where it is incumbent upon the prosecution to discharge the burden of proof," Duterte's legal team said in a statement.
DUTERTE FAMILY UNDER FIRE
The impeachment is the latest in a series of setbacks for the influential Duterte family, with the vice president feeling heat from her bitter feud with Marcos and her father Rodrigo Duterte awaiting trial at the International Criminal Court over a war on drugs that killed thousands of people during his 2016-2022 presidency.
The House had also voted to impeach the vice president last year, but that was later struck down by the Supreme Court over a procedural flaw.
But in what could be a major boost for Duterte, as the lower house prepared to vote on Monday, drama unfolded in the Senate, where a motion was passed to remove its president and replace him with Alan Peter Cayetano, a staunch loyalist of her family.
The change in Senate leadership means Cayetano, a former running mate of Duterte's father, would be the presiding judge in her impeachment trial.
Sara Duterte becomes the highest‑ranking official to be impeached in the Philippines after former President Joseph Estrada in 2000, whose trial was aborted after prosecutors walked out. Estrada however stepped down a few days after the trial ended in chaos.
Three other top officials have been impeached, including an ombudsman and an election commission head, who both resigned before their trials. Former Supreme Court chief justice Renato Corona is the only person so far to be convicted in an impeachment trial.
'WE'VE SEEN THE SMOKING GUN'
Marcos survived a separate impeachment bid in February after his allies in Congress voted to dismiss it. He has distanced himself from proceedings against his estranged vice president.
Dozens of demonstrators gathered outside Congress on Monday, chanting and holding banners saying "Impeach Sara Now."
Bienvenido Abante, one of the lawmakers who endorsed the petition, said the process was about conscience, duty, and the country's future.
"The Filipino people deserve a trial that is fair, impartial and rooted in the rule of law," he said.
After the vote, left-wing lawmaker Jose Manuel Diokno told the house there was ample evidence against Duterte and it was time for her to be held accountable.
"We have seen the smoking gun," he said.
(Reporting by Karen Lema, Mikhail Flores and Nestor Corrales; Additional reporting by Adrian Portugal; Editing by Martin Petty, John Mair and Raju Gopalakrishnan)
