Philippine Senate Shelves Impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte
The Senate voted 19-4 to archive the impeachment complaint against Ms. Duterte, which had been approved by the lower house. Though the Senate can still hold a trial later, the possibility is diminishing. Last month the Supreme Court found the impeachment proceedings were unconstitutional, which influenced the Senate vote. In a statement last week, Ms. Duterte called the charges an abuse by the House.
It was the latest sign that Ms. Duterte, who was impeached in February, and her party, once led by her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, is emerging from this political storm stronger than most experts expected. In May elections, candidates endorsed by the Dutertes won more seats in both chambers of Congress. That was a show of strength for Ms. Duterte, who has made no secret of her intention to succeed President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., her former ally.
In the Philippines, as in the United States, the Senate tries and convicts an official impeached by the House of Representatives. The House voted in February to impeach Ms. Duterte and accused her of misusing public funds and making threats to assassinate Mr. Marcos, his wife, and Speaker Martin Romualdez of the House.
Ms. Duterte and Mr. Marcos, also the child of a former president, ran on the same ticket in 2022, winning in a landslide on the combined popularity of their two families. Their alliance quickly crumbled as the House, where allies of Mr. Marcos hold a slim majority, opened probes into the vice president's budget.
The feud reached a peak in March, when the Marcos administration arrested Mr. Duterte and handed him over to the International Criminal Court to face charges of crimes against humanity for thousands of deaths during his war on drugs. Mr. Duterte is in prison awaiting trial at The Hague.
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