The impeachment trial of Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte begins | Corruption Issues

The outcome of the Senate case could prevent Duterte from remaining in office, shaking his bid to lead the 2028 elections.

The to be condemned of Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte has begun in Manila, in a major trial that will determine her political future.

Thousands of police were deployed around the Senate building in the capital on Monday as protests calling for Duterte’s impeachment began to gather outside. The vice president’s office said he would not be seen.

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The House of Representatives impeached the daughter of former President Rodrigo Duterte on charges of graft, corruption and the assassination of his friend President Ferdinand Marcos. Duterte denies wrongdoing.

“We, his lawyers, are here… to prove that the allegations against him are baseless,” Michael Poa of Duterte’s defense team told reporters.

In his statement, Duterte said the decision to “appear through counsel rather than testimony itself does not reduce accountability or transparency”.

Second complaint dismissed

The outcome of the trial, which will last several months, may determine whether Duterte will be barred from running in the 2028 election.

Only a guilty verdict by two-thirds of the deeply divided 24-seat Senate can impeach the vice president and prevent him from being elected.

Duterte is still the president next year 2028and a late May poll showing that 51 percent of respondents planned to vote for him.

Reports from Manila, Al Jazeera’s Barnaby Lo said that less than two years into Marcos’ rule, the House of Representatives – led by the president’s cousin – began investigating the vice president for corruption.

“The investigation was conducted on the original decision… which was rejected by the Supreme Court,” he said. “But here we are, Duterte is facing a second complaint.”

Duterte and Marcos are the successors to the two most powerful monarchs in the country.

In 2022, they won the elections on a joint ticket, but their alliance collapsed in a serious dispute that grew after the arrest of Rodrigo Duterte and his transfer to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in prison last year for murder charges related to the so-called “war on drugs”.

A bitter fight broke out in the Senate, raising questions about how the case will proceed.

In a major development on Monday, Duterte’s ally, Senator Rodante Marcoleta, was arrested on charges of looting before the trial began, casting doubt on the support of the vice president in the Senate.

In the month of May, the Senate is preparing to receive complaints against the House of Representatives, Duterte ally Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa arrived in the room after being absent from the public since November and voted to install Alan Peter Cayetano as Senate President.

Dela Rosa then sat in the Senate before leaving early on May 14, hours after hours of chaos and gunfire in the legislature. his whereabouts are unknown. Cayetano was Duterte’s father’s running mate in the 2016 election.

Dela Rosa, who is also facing ICC charges, was the country’s police chief during the war on drugs, in which thousands of people were killed. He and Rodrigo Duterte denied wrongdoing.

About a month later, senators who aligned with the rival party gained enough support to elect Senator Sherwin Gatchalian as Senate President.