Philippine vice president faces impeachment

The Philippine House justice committee on Wednesday found probable cause to impeach Vice President Sara Duterte, moving a step closer to a process that could derail her bid to become the next president.



The complaint will go to the plenary for a vote when Congress resumes session next month, with the backing of a third of its members needed to advance to an impeachment trial in the Senate, where if convicted she would be removed from office and banned from politics for life.



Duterte's impeachment was sought by civil society and leftist groups, who accuse her of misusing public funds, accumulating unexplained wealth and of threatening the lives of her rival, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, his wife and his cousin, the former house speaker.



In a vote of the committee, all 53 members agreed there was probable cause to impeach Duterte.



She denies wrongdoing and says the complaint is politically motivated.



Duterte remains locked in an acrimonious public feud with former ally Marcos, with whom she ran on a joint ticket in 2022 elections that they both won in landslides.